Is Everything Okay?
by LonelyLostBoy12
Summary: Everything hit him. Daniel was crying in front of Lancer who had just asked him if his parents were hurting him. This couldn't look good. So, Daniel did the only logically idea his brain could come up with that the moment... He ran. TW: Mention abuse, violence, depression, anxiety.
1. Chapter 1

A chill breezed filtered in through the open window, dosing the students in some much need fresh air was humid, causing many of the occupants to have a glean of sweat on their skin. Many sat barely staying awake as their teacher, also the vice principal, recited words from the assignment the teens were supposed to read for homework the night before.. All the students were awake, well all the students but one. Daniel Fenton. He had entered his first year of high school with strong grades and an approving attendance. He seemed to have been following his sister's footsteps, who happened to be top of the school, destined to go to any Ivy League school of her choose. Sadly, Daniel's motivation seemed to waiver. A few months into the school year and the teen shifted completely. His once great grades started to drop, he became a C average student at best and his attendance took a total plummet. The teen was known the arrive to class, ask to go to the restroom and be gone for the rest of the period. If it was a good day, he would be back before the bell. These sudden changes didn't come alone either. Daniel would appear at school many times with bruises, and scratches. When questioned the teen would clam up, coming up with a half-hearted excuse of being a clumsy kid.

The overweight, and bald teacher leaned against his desk. A hand loosened his tie as he continued to read from the book, held tightly in his left hand. His tone matched the book, he read the word with as much zest as he could. Trying to immerse the teens while bringing the amazing piece of literature to life. For the students who focused intently on the words that spilled from Lancer's lips, his tones and comments brought the whole piece together, making it difficult for those teens to tear their eyes away from the man. Others simply kept their attention on their electronic devices. Texting away, or surfing whichever social media site was the thing at the moment.

Except Daniel. Daniel laid in his head on his desk, head buried in his arms. The dreaming teen was unaware of the concern looks that were drifting his way ever so often. His friends, Sam and Tucker, were both concerned for their friend. The night before the teen had to spend the night fighting ghosts on his own because Sam and Tucker had been much too exhausted to even move. The two felt horrible seeing their exhausted friend now in class, but what worried the two teens the most was the fact that young Daniel was dressed differently. Daniel usually wore a white t-shirt with red trims and a red oval on the front, light blue baggy jeans, and red canvas shoes. However, this morning the teen wore a black long sleeved shirt that seemed four sizes too big, his light blue jeans were switched in favor of dark black jeans, but his red canvas shoes stayed.

It wasn't the sudden dark fashion choose that affected the teens per say. It was that said teens knew all too well that that was the exact outfit Daniel wore after a particularly nasty encounter with a ghost. It also didn't only simply catch their eyes either. It caught the eyes of a certain vice principal who noticed the attempted concealed winces, and flinches that followed on days with that outfit laid out on the scrawny teen. Lancer hadn't neglected to notice that the teen had seemed to lose a significant amount of weight along with dark bags growing underneath bright blue eyes. Lancer must say, he was grateful to see the brightness and flare of those eyes have not decreased.

Daniel suddenly awoke the feel of someone shoving him slightly. Holding back a wince, the teen looked to notice his friend Sam was motioning her head to the teacher who had paused his reading to give the drowsy teen an unamused glare. He bit his lip and blushed, quickly sitting up straight and wiping a hand across his lips in case he was so deep under he drooled. Daniel reigned in a sigh of relief, knowing he hadn't embarrassed himself to the full extent of his abilities. Lancer had lowered his book, resting the back of his left hand on the desk.

"Mr. Fenton." Lancer's voice cut through the silence, only causing the teen to blush a bit more, leaning in on himself. "This is a learning environment. Which means from the beginning of the school day, up until the end of the school day you are to be alert, and awake, ready to learn. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Lancer." Daniel piped out, shifting his gaze to the desk that laid in front of him. He felt relief when the older man moved to raise the book, but the man had a few more words.

"This is the fifth time I have caught you dozing off in my class Mr. Fenton. I have warned you time and time again, and yet it still occurs. I would like to see if you after class." Lancer spoke again, not waiting for a reply from the teen as he continued his reading.

A groaned escaped the teen as he ran a hand down his face, trying to ignore the sniggering that was taking place behind him. Sam and Tucker turned, eyes filled with concern, only to be met with a mouthed "Later". Daniel placed a hand under his chin, trying to focus on the words that tumbled out of his teacher's mouth but the exhaustion of last nights hunting and the attacks he had to deal with, which lead to him missing majority of his classes, had taken a toll on him. Half ghost or not, everyone has their limits, and Young Daniel has hit his. He didn't want anything more than to go home and sleep on his bed. Something he didn't get to do the night before.

Daniel winced slightly when he shifted in his seat, a gash that was taking some time to heal had pushed against the desk, causing a flare of pain to to ignite through the teen. His eyes began to unfocused and he shook his head in an attempt to waken up. If he failed this next exam, he's grade was going to drop. He already knew he wasn't going to be getting his homework done tonight, he also knew he had to skip ghost hunting for the night. He was no use if he looked like a dead man walking. When the bell rang Daniel jumped, banging his knee on the desk. With a soft curse, the teen started packing his things, not realizing he had doze off earlier.

"What happened last night?" Sam whispered, using the noise of teens filtering out of the classroom as a cover for the talk. "You look like hell! You are taking tonight off."

"I know, Sam." Daniel sighed, running a hand through his mess black hair. "I ran into Spectra, and then Technus, then Walker, and then Skulker came at me with upgrades. Ones that have delayed my healing. That's not counting the amount of times the box ghost and ectopusses popped up. God, then my parents showed up."

"Damn dude." Tucker winced. "You should have called us."

"You guys needed your rest." Daniel smirked. "Besides, now you get stuck on Ghost duties." That elicited a groan from the other two teens, even if they smiled slightly. When his two teens paused at the door and looked at Daniel concerned, he gave them a reassuring smile. Even though the trio knew it was fake, they went their separate ways. Two of the trio waiting anxiously for tomorrow to find out what happens during this talk.

There was silence. Daniel stood there, trying to ease the pressure and digging the bag added to his already bruised shoulder, while Lancer moved to take a seat at his desk. Reaching into the right bottom draw of his desk and placed a decent sized folder onto the desk in front of him. Lancer flipped through the pages a few times, before he released a sigh, and closed the folder. Folding his hands on top of the closed folder, he turned his gaze to the nervous teen before him. The hard look in his eyes softened.

"Daniel, if this was a simple rare occasion, then your teachers and I can ignore it. However, this is the fifth time this week and we cannot ignore it." Lancer started, his tone a lot softer and concerned than the one he used in front of the class. " As your teachers, we do care about your well-being. I don't want you to feel like you can't come and talk to me about anything."

"Uh, thank you Mr. Lancer." Daniel's voice had a slight waver in it, and Lancer caught the tiredness in the teen's voice. "But I'm okay, I've just been having trouble sleeping. Nothing this weekend can't fix."

"Listen Danny." The use of his nicknamed shocked Daniel, Lancer didn't call him that often. "I have been teaching you for a while. I have noticed the drastic changes you've gone through in a short time. For one, you completely changed your usual outfit, and for a long sleeve on a hot day like this. My job involves character analysis every day, I notice things. I know a lot of students view me as the boring, lame English teacher, but I do catch more than one would thing. Answer me this, truthfully. Do be scared or frightened. Are you being abused at home?"

Immediately the tension in the room enhanced, Daniel's hands began to sweat and his mouth became as dry as the Sahara Desert. Fear and panic increased his pulse, he could feel his heart thumping against his rib cage, and the blood rushing through him.

"It isn't hard to notice that you are currently malnourished, Daniel." Lancer continued when the teen didn't speak. "You haven't been sleeping well and I have noticed the bruises, the limps, the flinches, and winces. I also know you Danny, and I know you're lying to me. I'm not mad or upset with you for lying. But can you tell me the truth?"

The silence that followed was just as tense, if not more. Lancer couldn't miss the way that Daniel's hand tightened on the bag strapped that he held tightly in his hands. The one by his leg gripped the pants material. When Lancer focused his concern gaze on the teen he noticed the slight tremble that ran through the boy. Getting up Lancer stood before his student, placing a light and comforting hand on the shoulder voided of a bag strap. The teen gave a small, barely noticeable flinch. A flinch no one would have noticed if they weren't searching him, like Lancer was. Lancer could practically feel the fear and panic rolling of the teen in waves. Leaning down to try and make some sort of eye contact with the teen, Lancer tried to figure out what to do.

Yes, he didn't think Maddie or Jack could hurt Daniel like he is thinking, however abusers could be anyone. Even if it isn't his parents, it is obvious that someone is hurting the teen. Lancer was set on finding out who it was. If the teen didn't help him then he would go to the authorities. Regardless of how, he couldn't see such a bright kid go through something that no one should go through.

Unbeknownst to the teacher, Daniel's mind was having a war of his own. Daniel knew the tears that were forming in his eyes weren't because his parents were hurting him but because he was getting tired. Unbelievably tired of holding in his secrets, of having to go hunting for ghosts every night. Biting his lip, Daniel screwed his eyes shut. He knew this looked bad, but he couldn't help it. For once someone was worried about him and wanted to know if he was okay and it hit him more than he expected. Yes, Sam and Tucker do worry, but that's different. They are his best friends, but Lancer is his teacher. He could turn a blind eye if he wanted to, but he didn't and that made Daniel realize that people outside of his friends and family notices and cares. That cause a choked sob to escape his throat, and a tear to run down his cheek.

"Danny, is everything okay?"

Four words. Four simple words that Daniel has heard from his friends time and time again but this time. This time it had a different effect on him. Before he could indulge the feeling that was bubbling under the layers of depression, anxiety, and exhaustion , everything hit him. Daniel was crying in front of Lancer who had just asked him if his parents were hurting him. This couldn't look good. So, Daniel did the only logically idea his brain could come up with that the moment.

He ran.

Daniel has never been more glad of it being the weekend then he did at that exact moment.

* * *

 **AN:** **AHHHHHHH I'm so happy I finally wrote this. I don't know if this will actually become a story or just an open ended oneshot, but this idea has been plaguing my thoughts, this plot bunny would not go away and I kept dreaming about it and then I thought fuck it. Who cares if I currently have a work in progress going on right now.**

 **But seriously, let me know what you guys think in the comments/reviews. Let me know if you guys want a full story, or if this is fine. Ends in a cliffhanger but hey, you never know what people like. Some people like being left wondering.**

 **REVIEW, FAVORITE, FOLLOW**

 **LOTS OF LOVE**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN** **: Hello Wonderful people! It is amazing to see that some people are interested in this story. The first person to review, a guest under the name Fluffy, was actually what lead to me writing this now. A few other reviews spurred me to actually come up semi with a full plan of the story, although I still have a lot of plot holes.**

 **Here are a few things I want to point out so that you guys are aware ahead of time in reading this. A lot of Danny's emotions, and I mean a lot will be based on my experience with mental health. I wont be doing any research outside of my own knowledge so if you see anything that isn't common or odd or doesn't fit, don't attack me, this stuff is based on me.**

 **Yes, Lancer is out of character. There could probably be a ton of different reasons why it doesn't seem very much like him but I have one main reason. I don't know Lancer. He was never a character that caught my attention, or I saw enough times to have a pretty good idea on how they act so I can't portray him correctly like he is in Butch Hartman's show (That's my disclaimer of ownership, all to him).**

 **This isn't going to be a full fluffy story that's light-hearted. It's going to be heavy, filled with Angst. I always figured that (in reality in a sense) if a teen boy was going to be in a painful accident and have powers and then protecting the town falls on his shoulders with friends, leading to all nighters of ghost hunting and it all interfering with school that it would take a toll on the teen. So basically this story is where it starts taking it's full toll on Danny, starting with Lancer noticing the issues.  
**

 **Early apology for any characters that show signs of out of character, I haven't seen Danny Phantom in a while so some characters might be a bit out of it.**

 **If anyone has any pointers or ideas for plot or character portrayal of a character feel free to review. Any type of review is welcomed. Unless its useless hate that isn't helping anyone, then oh so kindly bugger off.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

"Danny you had some pretty stupid ideas." Sam started, looking at the raven haired boy in front of her. "But this by far was the dumbest."

"Yea man, she has a point." Tucker jumped in, a concerned look burned into his exhausted friends face. "Running off like that was suspicion... What if he calls CPS!"

Daniel groaned, running a hand down his face. He couldn't believe how stupid he was. Right after the confrontation from Lancer Daniel ran straight home, or more so flew straight home. He locked himself in his room, and slept. He didn't want to think about what could happen. Didn't want to think about Lancer calling his parents or what it was that his parents and sister wanted. All he wanted, all he needed was uninterrupted sleep and he planned on getting it. He did, but when he woke up Sam and Tucker were there. Turns out he slept clear till Saturday morning.

"I know guys. I don't know what to do." Daniel frowned. "I was exhausted, and my whole body hurts. I don't understand it but what ever Skulker attacked me with stunted my healing, I just don't know anymore." Daniel groaned, falling back onto his bed missing the concerned moment the Goth and the Techno-geek shared. He threw his hands over his eyes, the heels of his pals digging into his eyes another sigh escaped his lips.

"Danny..." Sam trailed, sharing another glance at Tucker. Both were concerned of what Lancer would do. He knew something was up,and everyone feared what he would do next. "What are we going to do?"

Daniel felt his heartbeat increase drastically, tears pricking at the back of his eyes. Digging the heels of his palms firmer against his eyes, taking a deep breath. Vexation bubbled from underneath the panic, how could he have been so stupid? He messed up big time, and he doesn't think he can fix this. He could stand up against Pariah Dark, Vortex, Spectra, and even Vlad but Lancer? He went straight into panic. The only way he can even think to fix this is tell Lancer everything... But he can't. He doesn't know why, and it frustrates him to no end. He needed to come up with a plan, and he needed to before Monday.

"DANNY!" A concerned voice shouted, causing the zoned out teen to jumping, removing his arms and being met with the troubled faces of his friends. The confusing must have been noticeable on his face because Tucker continued. "We've been calling your name for a few minutes dude, you were completely out of it."

"I'm... sorry." Daniel sighed, sitting up. Ignoring the sharp pains that erupted throughout his body or the sting of tears behind his eyes. "I'll talk to Lancer in the morning. If he won't listen to me, then I don't know what I'll do."

"I have an idea." Sam's eyes glistened. "If he won't listen to you, maybe he'll listen to Phantom."

"Sam, you know I can't tell him"

"I know, I mean you could visit him as Phantom and tell him that Danny Fenton has been helping him hunt ghosts." Sam spoke, giving Danny a look, hoping he'll caught what she was throwing. Any hope left her body when all she was met with Daniel's cliche clueless stare met her.

"What do you... Oh..." Daniel's eyes widened, mind racing in thoughts. "That's actually...smart. First I'll talk to Lancer, and if he doesn't drop it then I'll talk to him as Phantom."

"Okay yea. Less likely for Mr. Lancer to notice the connection." Tucker's gaze fell on his PDA before he sighed. "I'm sorry dude, but I need to get back home. Sam and I will cover tonight, with Valeria. You need your rest."

Sam paused for a moment, most likely contemplating if she can take a second day of hunting without Daniel. Giving a small, hesitant smile and placed a hand on her friends knee. "Take it easy Dipstick." Sam followed Tucker out the door, the two flashing their best friend another glancing only to noticed he was already falling asleep...

* * *

Vibrant blue eyes fluttered open, taking time to adjust to the darkness. Confusion plagued Daniel's mind as he wondered what woke him from his dreamless sleep. Sitting up, he swung his legs off the bed and rubbed his tired eyes. _'I guess I should grab a snack, who knows how long I've been asleep'_ Daniel thought, yawning. He sat there a bit longer, trying to will himself to get up. A sudden knock on his door caused the boy to jump, head whipping promptly to stare at the bedroom door. His mind still foggy from sleep,it took him a moment to speak, but the person on the other side spoke first.

"Danny?" A tentative voice called through the wooden door. Daniel blinked, before his mind supplied who was speaking.

"Come in." Daniel shook his head, trying to clear the fogginess that still lingered evidently in his mind. The door creaked open, before the redhead entered, closing the door softly behind her.

"Danny..." She started, taking a stand in front of her baby brother. "Lancer spoke to me the other day." Before his sister could continue, the teen groaned.

"I'm trying to handle that Jazz, it's fine."

"It's not fine Danny." Jasmine spoke firmly, crossing her arms. "Lancer could very well contact the police, we better be glad he didn't."

"When did he talk to you?" Daniel questioned,resting his chin on his hand, eye dropping.

"During lunch." That elicited a soft sigh of relief. Daniel was just glad his sister hadn't heard of his moment in front of Lancer. "I told his to talk to you on Monday, so we need to come up with a good excuse."

"Don't worry Jazz." He sighed, continuing before his sister could cut in. "He already talked to me... I'll talk to him again on Monday, Tuck and Sam came up with a plan." Jasmine gave a hesitate nod, her eyes skimming over her brother.

"Is everything alright?" She held her hand up, silencing her younger brother. "Don't tell me everything is okay. Lancer does have some valid points. I just want you to know that even though I'm studying to be a psychologist, doesn't mean you can't talk to me."

"Jazz, really I'm okay." Daniel quickly cut in, giving her a smile. Her unconvinced look had him add on. "Just tired, I've pulled a few all nighters to hunt ghosts and I just need a break." Jasmine gave a sad sigh.

"That's a text book re-"

"Jazz please." Daniel sighed, shooting his sister a pleading look. "I'm honestly just tired, can I just sleep?" Jasmine moved to speak again before her eyes took in the younger teen's dark bags that circled his eyes, and the way his eye lids dropped. With a defeated sigh, she headed to the door.

"Okay Danny, BUT" She turned, pointing a finger at her brother. "We are having a serious talk when you wake up." Daniel gave a nod, flopping back onto his bed. The soft click of his door barely registered in his mind as he wondered why he was so tired. He slept from after school the day before to Saturday morning, then a few hours and he still feels like he's going to fall over any moment.

With another sigh, Danny curled up on his side. His eyes sliding close, only to shoot open again. Annoyance filled his veins, when he felt the shiver and blue wisp of air. He sat up and stretched.

"Here comes misplaced aggression."

* * *

"DANNY!" The shrill voice made Daniel wince, a hand still holding the side of his face. The ache causing him to keep his left eye shut, the hand trying to guard it from the pain, sadly the pain was internal. "This isn't good! We need to come up with a plan and we need to do it fast." His best friend Sam spoke, pulling the teen's hand away from his face and gave a wince.

"Dude, that looks like it hurts." The glare the African American received caused the teen to smile sheepishly. "You could say it was an invention accident."

"Tuck, I've used that excuse like twenty times from now." A realization dawned on the teen which caused him to groan and rest his head in his hands. "What am I going to tell my parents!"

"You were mugged?" Tucker attempted to supply, only to be glared at again, this time by both of his friends. "Okay but listen. You'll be walking home late from Sam's house. It's dark, you feel someone push something against your back and demand money. You don't have any so they pistol whip you and they ran. They were behind you and you didn't get to see him." Tucker cringed slightly, waiting for the onslaught of words that were to come. When nothing came, the teen turned his shocked face to his two friends who looked thoughtful.

"That could actually work." Sam spoke incredulously. "You actually had a good idea."

"Hey!"

"Do you think Lancer would buy that?" Daniel piped in, his fingering poking the left side of his face, wincing ever so slightly. "It's great that he cares, but I really hope he drops this."

"He might." Sam nudged his shoulder, giving a smile when he glanced at her.

"Yea, if we convince him enough he'll drop it that's for sure." Tucker jumped in, the trio making their way down towards their homes.

"Yea... I can't help but wonder why he didn't just contact CPS already?" Daniel questioned. "Don't get me wrong, it's awesome he hasn't, but wouldn't he have?" Sam and Tucker shared a look, confusion clouding their faces before they nodded.

The trio walked in silence from there, all three trying to come up with some plausible reasoning as to why Lancer was doing this. All three shared the same anxiety among each other. They all knew what was at risk, if Lancer contacted authorities the truth would have to come out. There was no way the Fentons would be cleared of child abuse with all the wounds Daniel was sporting.

When they reached the intersection, they exchanged goodbyes and went off to their respected homes. Daniel felt the anxiety rise, close to bubbling over. He couldn't help the looming fear he felt for tomorrow, when he would have to face Lancer. With their block schedule, he didn't have the English teacher tomorrow, but he was going to stop by his office after school. This all had to be dealt with and fast, before things get extraordinarily out of hand and completely down the drain. He released a sigh of relief when he noticed all the lights off in his home. At least he got away from a lecture that night.

To tired to bother with his powers, he lightly made his way towards his room. Taking a glance at his cell phone, he stifled the millionth sigh of the day. He had four hours before he had to be up and ready for school. Once in his room, his eyes drifted to his bag that rested on his desk. He needed to do his homework, he slept or ghost hunted pretty much all weekend and didn't get an ounce of work better. He couldn't leave it for today when he got back from school. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that he wouldn't ended up getting it done. With a sigh of defeat, he dropped himself in his desk chair. If he wanted Lancer off his back, he definitely needed to pick up his pace. Turning to his math homework, he tried to focus his bleary eyes. Half way through his homework stack, Daniel fell asleep on his desk.

* * *

Daniel sulked further into himself, gripping the straps of his bag tighter. No one else in the halls of Casper High School noticed or paid any mind to the teen. Not a mention of his half bruised face, or how he was dressed in an over sized hoodie. His heart hammered against his rib cage, anxiety and fear clutching at his stomach. He felt unbelievably nauseous, tears pricked the back of his eyes and he couldn't help but scold himself.

He couldn't understand why he could stand up to Lancer. He was able to fight, and taunt so many ghosts who wanted nothing more in their afterlives, but this English teacher was able to spike his anxiety to unbelievable levels. Made every step to Lancer's office feel like he was being held down by lead. With a hesitant hand, he pushed open the ajar door and was met with the back of his teacher, a folder held in his hands. Or it was.

The moment Daniel stepped into the room, Lancer turned. His face filled with shock and the folder he held crashed to the ground. There was a pregnant silence, no word was shared between the two. Until Lancer exclaimed his very common and well known curses.

"Great Gatsby!"

* * *

 **AN : Ah, okay this took me about three days to completely write out. I'm sorry if this is choppy and doesn't make much sense, I was writing the span of his weekend. I cut it off where I did (even though I didn't want to) because I knew if I kept writing I was just going to end up posting one realllyyy long chapter. **

**I'm also really worried about writing Lancer's lines because as I explained I don't know his character well and I'm probably gonna butch his character. Just saying, that's a fair warning to you all, I may butch a few (or all) characters in this story.**

 **Hoped you guys enjoyed this update**

 **Please favorite, follower, review**

 **Byeeeee**


	3. Chapter 3

"It's not what you think!" Daniel cried, stopping his teacher from continuing to dial on his office phone. Daniel sighed, tucking his hands into the pockets of his hoodies. Trying to calm the intense beating in his chest, and push the anxiety down. He needed to be confident, needed to make Lancer believe him. With one more calming breathe, Daniel continued. "My parents... They didn't... They aren't hurting me. They didn't do this." He stammered, motioning to the dark, ugly bruise that colored his left cheek.

"Care to tell me who did?" Lancer questioned, settling himself in his chair. Pressing his two index fingers against each other and rested them against his lips. Daniel took a seat in front of the older man, a hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He shook his head, the pressed look the teen received caused him to quickly continue.

"It was late last night, I was walking back from Sam's and... someone tried to rob me, I didn't see him but when I didn't have money, he hit me with his gun and ran." Daniel stuttered, dropping his gaze to his red sneakers. A silence hung in the air, neither of the party speaking before the elder man released a sigh, giving Daniel a disapproving look. "I'm telling the truth!"

"As much as that could be the truth" Lancer began, shaking his head ever so slightly. "That doesn't explain the other marks."

"What other marks." Daniel mumbled, tugging his sleeves further down his hand. He knew he was taking a shot in the dark, Lancer just confirmed to the younger teen that he wasn't going to believe him so easily. He might have to go to plan B…

"You know very well what I'm talking about." Lancer spoke, flashing the teen a pointed look even though said teen was too busy inspecting his red sneakers. The silence that hung in the air seemed to answer Lancer's unasked questions, concern and fear filling the older man. He worried that maybe him getting involved lead to the ugly bruise that covered the boy's cheek, or that he might have all this wrong. He didn't want to risk ruining a very loving family, much like the Fentons portrayed themselves, but he couldn't risk sending Daniel back to that home if there was a possibility that it is as abusive as it seemed... Lancer didn't want to have to contact authorities, he wouldn't have to if the shielded teen before him spoke the truth to him, but he knew Daniel. He knew it wouldn't be easy to get the truth. With a sigh, the teacher's hands moving back to his phone, fully intended to call the police.

"Wait." Daniel spoke up, turning his pleading gaze up to the vice principal. "Just believe me... My parents aren't hurting me." Lancer sighed, running a hand down his face, he released his hold on the telephone once again.

"Even if it isn't your parents who are doing this to you, I still need to contact the authorities." Lancer began, giving the anxious teen before him a melancholy gaze. "Someone is hurting you Daniel, and I can't just sit aside and let that happen." The vexed look that over took the teen's features startled Lancer.

"You can't just sit aside and do nothing!" The anger that dripped from the teen's voice shocked the teacher, confusion clouding his features. "This started the beginning of Freshman year and now it's a problem?!"

"Daniel, I-"

"No." Daniel cut in, quickly standing from his seat. "I'm not being abused at home. I'll make sure I finish all the homework I'm given, so you don't have to worry about anything." Before Lancer could speak, the teen was out of the office.

The teacher sat dumbfounded. He knew something happened in freshman year that lead to the decline of Daniel' behavior and health, but around that time it didn't seem so bad. Lancer had been so busy with everything that he didn't keep his eyes on the teen. It almost seemed as if in the blink of the eye the teen's health seemed to decrease drastically.

Lancer buried his head into his hands. The image of the malnourished, bruised, and frighten boy etched into his mind. The teen seemed so vehement that his parents weren't hurting him, but the teen was still endanger. Who ever it is that's harming the poor boy still has access to him as long as the authorities didn't know. The worn out teacher released a sigh, his eyes landing on the phone. He knew if he contacted the police Daniel may very well hate him, but he couldn't stand seeing the young boy deteriorate before his eyes. Lancer knew what he had to do, he had to help Daniel even if the Teen didn't want it.

* * *

Daniel sighed, he seriously needed to stop doing that. He was pretty certain he has sighed more times these past four days than he has his whole life, but the teen couldn't help it. After his "minor" flip out on Lancer he had a ton of misplaced aggression that needed releasing, and per usual, ghosts decided to donate themselves for the cause. He had no clue what he would do now. He keeps freaking out whenever he tries to handle Lancer, and it isn't helping his case.

Kicking a loose stone, Daniel shoved his hands into his pockets. Sam and Tucker had some family things and Daniel couldn't hide out there. He didn't feel like having to deal with his sister's insistent questioning, or his parents' not so subtle perturbed gazes. Releasing yet another sigh, the teen pulled his gaze from the cracked sidewalk to look at his house. The sight of a dark black sedan stopped him in his tracks.

He wasn't sure who that car belonged to, or why it was there but that didn't stop the anxiety that clawed it's way into his stomach and made him bilious. Taking another deep breathe, Daniel stepped into his home, being greeted by two distraught parents, a woman and man in suits, and two police officers. The fear augmented, without needing to be told, Daniel knew exactly who these people were.

"Danny?" Came his mum's shaky voice. "This is agent Smith and Anderson. They're with Child Protective Services, they'd like to ask you a few questions." Daniel felt unease by his mother's unnaturally calm yet shaky voice, and how his father just sat there. Jack Fenton's face was eerily blank. He didn't make a move until Madeline ushered him out the room at the command of Agent Smith.

"You're not in trouble Daniel." Smith smiled, gesturing to the couch before her. "Why don't you take a seat and then we can get started."

"Danny." Daniel mumbled, taking the seat. He dropped his bag next to his feet, hands fidgeting with a loose string on his hoodie's sleeve. "I prefer Danny." All that got was a nod, and Anderson wrote down a few things.

"Do you know why we're here?" Smith questioned, crossing her legs.

"Lancer had to have called you." Daniel sighed, tugging on the thread. "I'm fine."

"How did you get that bruise?" Smith catechized.

"I already told Lancer." He pinched the bridge of his nose, indignation already growing underneath his anxiety. "I was walking home last night, it was a botched mugging. My parents didn't even know until this morning, they freaked when they found out. They didn't do anything."

"Freaked?" Anderson repeated, his hands quickly writing something down. "How did they 'freak'"

"Not the way you wanted them too." Daniel glared. "They were concerned about what happened, they wanted to call the police but I talked them out of it cause I never saw the guy. He was behind me the whole time." Anderson simply gave a nodded and continued writing. That irked Daniel's mood even more, what the heck was this man even writing.

"Would you mind if our Medical examiner looked you over?" Smith questioned, her questioned sounded a lot like a demand.

"Yes." Daniel grounded out. "When can I go? I have a lot of homework."

"You could leave as soon as our medical examiner looked you over." Anderson smiled, earning a glare from the teen.

"And what? You expect to find me covered in bruises? Then what, you'll blame it all on my parents?"

"If we found that, we would have to remove you from the household until we can determine for certain how you got the wounds." Smith supplied, leaning forward with a soft, reassuring smile. "If your parents haven't hurt you in any way, then this would all blow over." Daniel gave a reluctant nod.

* * *

"Where will I be staying?" Daniel blurted when agent Smith reentered the medical room. Her face read volumes of her shock. "I know you won't let me go back home so where will I be staying while this all clears up?"

"We still need contact a few relative, but we are trying to find someone near by and that you don't interact with daily." Anderson answered, as he entered after Smith.

"That means I can't stay with Sam or Tucker?" Daniel questioned, a frown pulling at his lips. All he received was a sad shake of his head. "This is ridiculous, it's just a few bruises!" He cried, throwing his hands into the air.

"Ridiculous?" Anderson spoke, his voice held disbelief. "You have three fractured ribs, a hairline fracture on your left wrist, a fractured hip bone, a concussion, a not so well relocated shoulder, and bruises covering more than half your body, along with a few cuts. Kid this is serious. Someone is hurting you, and it's not ridiculous."

Daniel sighed, burying his head into his hands. Tears pricked slightly on the back of his eyes, but he pushed them down. The anxiety and guilt overshadowed the vexation he had felt earlier. He was putting his parents through a lot, and he could end it all with the truth. A truth that could land him on a table ready to be dissected.

"Danny." Anderson spoke softly, crouching before the teen to make eye contact. "This maybe our job, but we do, genuinely care. Can you please help us help you? All we need is a name of who did this. No teen should go through this." Daniel swallowed and shook his head, earning a tired sigh.

"How about you go, and settle in your new place for now, and we can try talking more tomorrow?" Smith supplied, which gathered the attention of the teen, whose head shot up swiftly.

"Who?" Daniel's eyebrows furrowed, confusion clouding his features.

"Your father recommended an old college friend. Said you don't see him very often." Smith glanced down at the folder she held. "It's a Vladimir Masters." Daniel froze, the color in his face draining some. Before he gave a nod, his gaze falling back to the ground. In his moment, he didn't notice the look the two agents shared.

"Mr. Masters will be here soon to pick you up." Anderson smiled. "One of us will be stopping by tomorrow around two."

"Can I see my parents?"

"I'm sorry Danny." Smith sighed, placing a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Maybe we can set up a supervised visit after you have settled down with Mr. Masters, but right now we can't set one up."

"Can I at least still hang out and talk with my friends?" Daniel asked, hugging himself. He wasn't sure if he could do this a smart way if he couldn't consult his friends.

"Maybe not hanging out with just yet, but you could text and call them." Anderson decided to go on when the teen sent a defiant look. "Until we know for sure who is hurting you then we can't let you be with people you see daily unsupervised."

"Vlad Masters." Daniel broke the silence that had built. The suddenness of the name, stunning the two agents.

"What about him?" Smith questioned, crouching to the teen's level. The boy kept his gaze on the ground before him, his nails digging into the palms of his hands. The disquietude he felt earlier returned with vengeance, he swallowed against the lump in his throat.

He knew they wouldn't be able to prove that Masters had done anything to him, but he knew it would buy him some time to figure out how to deal with this. Throwing Vlad under the bus probably isn't the best plan he has ever come up with, but he needed to do something. There was a snowball's chance in Hell that Daniel was going to stay at Vlad's mansion.

"Vlad Masters." Daniel swallowed, turning his feigned confident gaze to the agent before him. Taking a breath to try and calm the hammering heart in his rib cage, he continued. "He's the one that has been... abusing me."

The stunned silence that followed only bolstered the consternation that filled Daniel. He felt as if someone had a strong hold on his stomach and throat, causing nausea and the uncomfortable feeling of his throat closing up. His head throbbed annoyingly, and tears pricked behind his stinging eyes. Daniel was close to disappear right then and there when Anderson spoke up.

"For sure?" Anderson questioned, he had his own worries about being able to prosecute Masters, but he knew if it was him then he would try. "I'm going to trust you Danny, and if you say Vladimir Masters is hurting you then I will do everything in my power to help you."

"Yes." Daniel nodded. He couldn't believe he said it. He actual is throwing Masters under the bus, he knew this was all going to end badly. He was just about to throw a high powered, halfa who wants him as a son, or to kill him. There was definitely no way any of this was going to end well.

He was screwed.

* * *

 **AN: I wasn't planning for Danny to throw Vlad under the bus but I just started typing and without thinking about it this just popped up. I was so debating about posting this, or rewriting it but I decided against it. I'm just gonna give this shot.**

 **For the CPS agents, I actually have had to deal with CPS before so I based the two agents off the ones that were assigned my case. I'm not sure how the system works 100%, so anything that happens might be off, my apologies.**

 **On an unrelated note, I have been binge watching South Park, already at season 13. I absolutely love Kenny, and the goth kids. those goth kids are literally me. I'm bring this up, not completely unrelated, because of binge watching the show South Park has been the main thing I think about. SO characters might be somewhat off, I haven't watched Danny Phantom in a while, so other shows are more recent and things might be off. Don't be surprised if a South Park reference found its way somewhere in this story.**

 **ANYWAYS... I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, please favorite/follow/review, I'd love to hear what you all think 3**


	4. Chapter 4

"Does it still look real?" Danny questioned, anxiety filling him as he looked at his friends. "Will it rub off? Do you think anyone will notice? What am I going to do? I have Lancer today!"

"Danny! Calm down." Sam snapped, rubbing her temple.

"Yea dude, she has a point." Tucker piped in. "Sam knows her makeup and ignore Lancer. He should expect you to be pissed."

"I know…" Danny sighed, rubbing the non-makeup side of his face. "I just, what if someone finds out that the bruised healed? What if Vlad kills me for this?!"

"He's not going to do anything" Sam placed a soft hand on her distressed friends shoulder. "It would be stupid for him to disappear, and if you suddenly showed up dead, I'm pretty sure people would blame him." The trio stopped a little ways away from the school, noticing Daniel's face paling. Sam and Tucker shared a sad look.

"Do you think they know?" Danny questioned. He knew they knew, it was all over the news. Vlad Masters after all is the Mayor of Amity Park. The sullen looks his friends gave him told him there wasn't a chance that gossip wasn't going around the school about it.

"Don't worry Danny." Sam and Tucker positioned themselves on either side of the teen. "We'll keep the vultures away." Sam gave a small smile, motioning to her steel toed boots. Her smile grew when a chuckle left her friend.

"Where did you stay last night?" Tucker asked, as the trio began walking to school was surprised to be showing on school on time for once, no ghost had bother him since CPS showed up and it's just adding to his anxiety, but he's going to try and enjoy it.

"A holding home." Danny sighed, running a hand through his unruly hair. "I still can't stay with my parents. Smith and Anderson think there's more going on then I am letting on…"

"Are they going to move you to another house?" Sam asked, sending her infamous death glare to everyone who stared and gossiped. "You should see if they'll let you stay at Tuckers. I'd say mine, but my parents hate you." Danny nodded, keeping his eyes downcasted to keep from seeing everyone's eyes on him.

"Their probably going to look for a third party." Danny opened his locker,shoving his face inside to hide for the moment. "Smith said they'll try to find a student's parent who wouldn't mind taking me. Can you imagine if they send me to Dash, or Kwan?"

"Aw man dude." Tucker sympathized. "I doubt they would, or you could tell them they bully you?"

"Nah, I'd rather stay with one of those two then another night at that house." Danny pulled away from his locker with a shiver, seeing his friends shocked faces. "I know. I think the guy who runs the house is a pedophile honestly" Danny shook his head, turning to his friends. "Sadly, this isn't Freshman year and we don't have all the same classes. Don't worry guys, I'll be fine."

The two teens shared a look before threatening Daniel that if he didn't come to them if something does happen then he was going to have a personal meeting with Sam's boots. Danny agreed, preferring who ever messed with him to be kicked then himself. Hey, his hero complex doesn't always apply.

Danny's day was relatively okay. Aside from the stares, and mumbles around him, and the teacher's constant concerned looks. Some even stopped him on the way out of class to tell him if he needed anything they were there. Danny would just smile, thank them, and leave. It pissed him off that now when they heard something 'tragic' happened are they 'worrying about him'.

Yes, he was mad at Lancer. Lancer shouldn't have called unless Daniel told him he could, but Danny also knew that he was just worried and cared. It touched Danny through the fog of vexation, that someone (aside from Sam and Tucker) cared enough to make sure he was okay.

Regardless of that, Danny could still feel the growing anxiety as he walked his way to the last class of the day… Lancer's English class. Danny popped into the bathroom, texting Sam and Tuck to meet him at the door. All he did was stand in front of the sink, he had originally planned to splash water on his face but froze when he remembered the makeup bruise, leaving the water running instead.

He didn't get it. Something that the ghosts are doing is reducing the healing for those wounds. The one on his face seemed to be the only one that healed faster than normal, and he got that from being thrown head first into the ground. He needed to figure out what it is, but right now he can't risk his healing going back to normal. Who knows if they want to take a look at it all again.

The sound of the bathroom door opened, caused Danny to shove his hand into the sink, trying not to look like he was just standing there. He felt eyes on him and in the mirror, what he saw caused his whole body to tense, dropping his gaze back to the sink. It was none other than Dash Baxter. What unnerved him more was that the football player just stood by the door and watched him.

He quickly dried off his hands, and started walking out, keeping his gaze down. He figured if he ignored Dash, he wouldn't have to deal with anything. He just wasn't in the mood. Again, life just couldn't go his way for once. Dash had shoot out and grabbed Danny's arm before he could leave.

"Dash, I-"

"Listen." Dash cut him off, turning to try and look into the tense teen's eyes. "Can you meet me at the park later tonight?'

"I don't know…"

"I just want to talk." Dash's sudden out of characterness only helped to fuel Daniel's anxiety. "Can you just meet me there, around 10? Please…" Dash never said please, shocked Danny met eyes with the Jock. Before he nodded, Dash's eyes held nothing but pleading and honesty. Dash offered a smile before letting go of Danny who rushed to his class.

That wasn't any better than the incident in the bathroom. Taking his friends advice, Danny just walked in and sat down, not sparing a glance at Lancer. Class didn't start for another two minutes. Not long after Danny, Dash entered, sparing a look and smile at Danny. That didn't go unnoticed by his friends.

"Danny, what was that?" Sam whispered, leaning closer, as did Tucker.

"Dash ran into me in the bathroom…"Danny sighed. "He wants to meet up at the park to talk."

"You said no right?" The look Danny gave Sam caused her to scowl. "Danny he's your bully! Who knows what he has planned!"

"Yea man." Tucker chimed, sparing a glance to the group of Jocks and cheerleaders. "It could be a trap."

"Guy don't worry. I'll be fine." Danny spoke, his word was finally because the bell rang,signaling the start of class.

Class was not fun. Danny wasn't as clueless as people thought, well not anymore after all the ghosts he has dealt with. He could feel Lancer's eyes on him. He could hear the whispers that still fluttered around the room, half of which mentioned Danny or Vlad. It was getting too much, Danny didn't like this attention. He just wanted to run. Luckily, his prays received an answer.

In the middle of reading yet another excerpt from the book, the phone rang out. Lancer stood, facing away from the class, and spoke into the phone. No one could really make out what he was saying beside Danny who tensed and paled.

"Dude?" Tucker questioned, poking his friend's arm.

"Fenton, please report to the front office." Lancer spoke, after placing his phone back down, a grim look on his face. "You may take your things."

Danny nodded, and quickly got up, swinging his bag over his shoulders. He usually brought it with him to last class so he wouldn't have to stop by his locker afterwards. The moment he heard Vlad's and Danny's name in the same sentence, he stopped listening, mind reeling with all the possible things that they could want. When he entered the Principal's office, only the two CPS agents were there, they too had grim looks across their features.

"Hey Danny." Smith attempted to smile, but it came out more of a grimace. She shared a look with Anderson before releasing a sigh. "Vlad was able to talk the judge, and our superior into allowing him to talk to you." Danny's face paled, his palms became clammy.

"In a private session…" Anderson added, the remorse clear on his features. When he noticed Danny's hands shake, he continued. "He will be handcuffed to the table, he won't be able to hurt you."

Daniel felt tears prick at his eyes, his vision blurring slightly. God knows why Vlad wanted to see him, but he wouldn't be surprised if Vlad beat the living crap out of him. Danny bit the inside of his cheek to keep the tears and questions at bay.

"If it gets too much, you can leave the room. I will be unlock, and we'll be just a shout away with a few officers." Anderson gave a small smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know it's going to be hard, and if you absolutely can't do it, than we can see if we could arrange it for another time."

"Now?" Danny asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "He wants to meet now?"

"School is almost over, we figured we'd let him have the half hour meeting and then you can spend the day how'd you like." Smith responded. "You'll be staying at the group home again tonight. We haven't found a student's whose parents are willing to take you in yet."

"O-okay…" Danny nodded, following the two agents to the car. "I still can't stay with Tucker… or Sam?" He asked again. He knew he couldn't stay with Sam, but Tucker's parents didn't hate him.

"Not yet, I'm sorry." Anderson glanced over at Danny from the passenger seat. "We need to make sure we clear all our bases." Danny nodded, picking at the brace around his fractured wrist.

Danny was lost in thought, wonder just how much things went downhill in only a few days. It all started because he couldn't stay awake in class. He need to be a whole lot more careful now, he needed to stay awake, and do his work. Act like everything was better, so people leave him alone… But what about Vlad? Vlad did beat the crap out of him on an almost weekly basis, so the abuse allegations weren't a complete lie. But how was he going to prove all this without revealing his and Vlad's secret? Did he even want them to even take this to trial? Vlad could easily escape, why not go through with it?

There were so many questions and things Danny needed to figure out but he couldn't think. The emotions he's been pushing down since he became Phantom were all resurfacing. It increased with the knowledge that Danny can't have his breakdown, he can't cry or throw a fit because who know knows what would surface from that. So, he'll suck it up. He'll hold back the tears until he's alone, or never release them.

He had to show people he was strong, needed Sam and Tucker to believe him when he says he's fine. Even if he was breaking on the inside, he wasn't going to let people know. He couldn't… He wasn't sure why, but he knew no one could really know how he felt,

"Here you go." Anderson smiled, handing Danny a can of coke. Daniel offered him a smile, taking opened can. "They'll prep the room, and then you'll go in. You don't have to do the whole thirty minutes if it's too much, okay?" Danny nodded, taking a gulp of the pop.

"I didn't know we had a build for you guys here." Danny changed the topic of conversation, not wanting to think too much about anything that can happen. "It's hard to think that something like that would happen here."

"Really? It happened to you." Anderson spoke, a look crossed his face that Danny couldn't quite make out what is meant. A soft blush filled Danny's features as he turned to stare the can in his hands.

"You know what I mean." Danny grumbled. Before Anderson could respond, Smith walked over.

"It's time." Smith gave Danny a melancholy smile. "After this, you won't have to do this again." Danny nodded, swallowing thickly around the lump in his throat. He followed Smith to a plain black door without a window.

"No one will know what happens in there, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Smith informed, her hand grasping the doorknob but not opening it. "Just know, if things become too much you can walk out. If anything, Anderson and I will be right over there, just a shout away with officer Brady and Jackson, Okay?"

"Yea, thanks" Danny mumbled numbly, missing the worried look on Smith's face as he stared at the door. When it pushed open, Danny bit his lip to stop any words from leaving him. He slowly walked in, eyes trained on the man handcuffed to the table, the door closed behind with a soft click as he sat down.

"What happened." Vlad Masters demanded, his hard eyes trained on the obviously distressed teen before him.

"I panicked…" Danny sighed, shaking his head. "Mr. Lancer called them, I couldn't let them blame it on my parents. I figured…"

"You figured what Daniel!" Vlad snapped. "That I would just go to jail to help you? Or I would disappear and live my life on the run?"

"It's not like I lied!" Danny respond with just as much venom as Vlad spoke with. "You attack me on a weekly basis! You try to kill my dad on a monthly one! You were the first person I can think of that actually does hurt me. I wasn't just going to let them serve me to you on a silver platter."

"I will not tarnish my reputation for you, Daniel" Vlad's glare intensified. "Retract your statement. Tell them you called me out because you dislike me."

"No." Danny shook his head, eyes flashing a green for a moment from the storm of emotions he felt. "All the heat will fall onto my parents. I'm not doing that."

"I'll tell them your father helped." A malicious smirk laced his lips, he thought he had Danny in a corner. "I go down, so does that oaf." Daniel froze for a moment, fear gripping at his stomach. Vlad's smirk falter when Danny had one of his own, arms crossing in front of his chest.

"I'll tell them our secret." Danny threatened, the fear of Vlad beginning to diminish. Daniel realized it was irrational, he had people who would come running in at a yell. "I'll be okay, after all I am the town hero. But you're the wisconsin ghost, you're evil. The GIW would be on you immediately, I have the town to back me up." Danny was right, and Vlad knew it. Vlad's face hardened, a silence lapped between the two. Each staring at the other, challenging each other.

Danny jumped when his the handcuffs clinked onto the table. The anxiety and fear he felt before entering slowly trickled back in. He kept his eyes on the man before him, as Vlad rubbed his slightly red wrists. Vlad smoothed the silver hair on the top of his head, smirking slightly at the way Danny tensed.

"Are you ready for the world to know you're a freak of nature?" Vlad questioned, folding his hands on the table. "Your parents to know that you are the thing that they hate? Let's say they do accept you, do you realize how much it's going to tear them apart knowing that they have been hurting their own son for this long?" Danny clinched his teeth, wrappings his arm around his midriff.

"Don't test me." Danny's word didn't come out as hard as he wanted them too. A slight quiver in his voice on the word 'test' gave Vlad all the ammunition he needed. A sly smirk making its way back onto his aging features.

"Don't make empty threats, little Badger." Vlad cocked his head. "I suggest you retract your statement."

Before Vlad even finished his sentence, Danny was already rushing out the door. Anger, anxiety, fear, self hatred filling him to the brim. Where were ghosts when he needed them?

"Danny?" Smith stopped him before he made it out of the building, her eyes gleaming with concern. "What happened?" Anderson helped her keep the boy still as Danny tried to walk past him. Daniel gave up, keeping his eyes on the floor as silent tears slid from his eyes.

"Danny?" Anderson tried, leaning down to make eye contact with the crying teen. Smith walked off to see the room the meeting had taken place in. "Talk to me, I just want to help." Danny shook his head, swallowing.

"Can I please just go…" Danny's voice was shaky and unsteady. "Can we just talk later?" Anderson paused for a moment, searching the teen's features before releasing a defeated sigh and nodded. Danny immediately made it out of the building, jumping behind to an area that didn't have any cameras and flew off.

He couldn't retract his statement, but he also couldn't let Vlad try to drag his dad through the dirt. Slowly the tears stopped, Danny taking a seat on the roof of the nasty burger, out of sight. He was going to meet Sam and Tuck there, but he needed to calm down first. Dropping his head into his head , he sighed. When did things have to get so complicated? Why can't things just work out for him in the end?


	5. Chapter 5

"It's going to be okay." Sam sighed, taking a bit out of her toasted grass sandwich. Danny gave her a skeptical look, shoving a fry into his mouth.

"But what do I do? I can't retract my statement, and I can't let him drag my dad through this…" Danny groaned, running a hand down his face. "Do I have to tell everyone?"

"I don't know Danny." Sam frowned. "I doubt they could find evidence of you dad hurting you...right?"

"She's got a point dude." Tucker nodded, speaking through the bite from his burger causing Sam to glare. He quickly swallowed when he noticed her. "Your parents only ever hit Phantom with the ecto-guns. With you saying they didn't do anything, increases the chances of it all being clear." Daniel just nodded, taking a bite from his burger .

"I wish I could just go back and stop Lancer from making that phone call." Daniel broke silence that fell over the three. "I'd rather tell him the truth then deal with all this…"

"Well, there is Clock-"

"No." Sam cut Tucker off, glaring at both boys. "You aren't going to see him, he probably won't even let you. Don't mess with time." Dejectedly, Danny agreed. He knew better than to mess with the timeline to fix his mistakes. But it would be so easy, he wouldn't have to keep making second guessed choices.

The table relapsed into silence once more. Everyone eating away at their meals. Each thinking about different things. It wasn't until their meals were almost gone when Tucker decided to bring something else into light.

"Are you really going to meet up with Dash?" Tucker asked, adding to emphasis. "Like alone, in the middle of a park, in the dark… Does that spell murder to anyone else?"

"Actually it's spelt M-U-R-D-E-R" Danny smirked, earning a glare from glare from both teens. "Look, I have you on speed dial, and you know who I'm going to meet incase I do go missing or is found dead."

"Can't we come?" Sam questioned, putting her trash onto the tray and checking the time.

"Guys, he wouldn't have said the park if he didn't want to be alone." Danny noticed his friends check their phone for the time. That's when he noticed the sun beginning to set. "I'll be okay guys, you should get home. I'll walk with you." The two other teens shared a look before nodding, and off the trio went.

"It sucks you still have to stay at the home." Tucker broke the silence after they dropped Sam off at her place. "If he does anything, Sam'll kick him for you." Tucker smiled, trying to make light of the bad situation. His smile grew a bit when his friend laughed.

"Yea, I'm sure it'll be fine." Danny's eyes landing on Tucker's house not to far from where they were. "I shouldn't have to stay there for too long at least. Hopefully all this blows over soon."

"Yea man." Tucker paused before his steps to his house turning to look at Danny. "Tell me what happens tonight, okay?" Danny responded with a nod, giving his friend a smile. The two exchanged goodnights, and Danny made his way to the park. He walked, not in the mood for flying right now. His mind racing with all the possible things Dash could say.

When Daniel arrived at the park, he noticed the time still read fifteen minutes until ten. With a glance around, and not noticing anyone, Danny went and sat on the swings. Trying to keep from thinking of the ways this can go badly for him.

With earbuds in, Danny's legs kicked softly. The swings squeaked faintly through the air, the playlist Daniel picked on spotify blasted in his ears. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the tranquility he was suddenly feeling. For once in the past days, Danny actually felt relaxed. He didn't know why, he was waiting for his bully to show up and talk about god knows what.

Danny kept his eyes close, and head resting against the chain waiting for the blonde jock to arrive. Humming softly to the song, he stretched and decided to check the time. He's been sitting there for twenty five minutes… Dash wasn't there yet.

Daniel's jaw clenched, not fully surprised that he probably got stood up. After a bit of mental debating, he finally decided he was just going to leave. He was about to get up, when he heard a noise through the music. Turning his head he saw a slightly out of breath Dash Baxter.

"Sorry, I entered through the other side." The blonde apologized taking the swing beside Danny. Daniel nodded, pulling his earbuds out and replacing them back into his hoodie's pocket. The two teens sat in silence for a bit, the only sound emitting from the rust chains of the swings.

"What did you want to talk about?" Danny mumbled keeping his eyes on the shifting shadow before him. Only the moonlight and street lamp illuminating the area. A silenced followed again… Danny was close to just leaving again. He couldn't believe Dash asked him to meet to talk, but no talking was going on.

"I get it." Dash spoke before Daniel snapped. "If you ever need to talk, I get what you're going through." Danny's eyes widened, blue eyes landing on the jock next to him. Dash offered a hesitant smile. "Doesn't mean we're friends though, Fenturd." The edge of playfulness that filled that statement begged a differ,dragging a soft laugh from the dark haired teen.

"Thanks." Danny smiled back, before turning his eyes back to the shifting shadows on the grassy floor of the park. The two lapsed in silence again, this time it wasn't as awkward as earlier. However, Daniel could sense that Dash wanted to say something. "What?"

"You aren't going to ask me how?"

"I'm not going to make you" Danny sighed, sparing a glance at the blonde. "You didn't lead with it, figured you wouldn't want to talk about it."

"Uh." Dash paused, his eyes searching Danny's face before he nodded. "You're cooler than what I expected, Fenton."

"You're nicer than I expected, Dash." Just like that, the two teens fell back into the silence, this time it was a comfortable, relaxed one. Danny swinging softly, while Dash sat mostly still. The two just enjoying the silence. Danny wasn't thinking about much, just enjoying it. But Dash, on the other hand, he was debating about telling Danny about his story.

"For middle school, my parents sent me to live with my aunt and uncle down south." Dash broke the silence this time, looking up at the moon. "They weren't going to be around for a long while and wanted me to have an adult around… But they had a different way of raising kids. I used to make excuses, I didn't see it as what it was, I kept thinking it was my fault until… I was sent to the hospital. My parents found out, and what you're going through right now was what I had to go through. I got cleared to go back home, and that was the summer before freshman year. Kwan and Paulina helped keep it all under wraps."

Once again, the 'meathead' jock was able to shock Danny into a silence. Danny's swings slowed to a stop, his eyes were still trained on his shadow. He never expected something like this to show him this other side of Dash, a side he actually didn't hate.

"Thank you." Danny smiled, looking Dash in the eyes. It was those words that seemed to signal the end of both shared a goodbye before Dash walked off, while Danny stayed seated in the swings.

Danny breathed, turning his gaze up at the moon. He didn't want to leave the park. After everything that happened earlier that day, he still somehow relaxed tonight. He didn't want to have to face his problems, he didn't want everything to become real. He still had so much to figure out, but he just wanted to stay at the park.

Rubbing his eyes, Danny sighed. If only life would let him. Once more, Danny put his earbuds back in, fully intending to go back to the holding home he was sent to. That was until a shudder ran through him, a puff of blue air escaping his lips. Quickly, he moved to survey the surroundings when he's eyes caught the ghost behind him, his crystal blue eyes tripled in size.

"Hello Daniel."

* * *

 **AN: Short Chapter I know. I had this whole author's note explaining a few things to you guys but then decided to glitch and that got deleted so I'll just bring up the most important part of it.**

 **I've gotten a few questioning on what I plan to do with Dash and Danny, to be honest with all of you... I don't have a plan. I wasn't planning for the meeting but a I zoned into writing and that happened. Some asked if I planned to make them a couple, and I don't. Maybe if you squint it could be like a preslash, but I feel like throwing a relationship with Danny in it draws away from where I'm trying to go and focus at with this story.**

 **I don't know, I'm thinking they just become friends. Let me know what you all think.**

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	6. Chapter 6

"Stopwatch!" Danny cried, jumping slightly. "Don't do that!" A hand rested over his pounding heart as he stared at the specter.

"You've been busy." Clockwork spoke, his hand motioning around in the air. Daniel sighed, and crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at the dark grass. "I could fix it all." Danny's head snapped up, his sapphire eyes widening almost comically.

"Wha-uh-no." Danny stammered, shaking his head to rid himself of the shock. "That could still cause a lot of trouble, I don't-can't risk it."

"You'll have a few days to see what you'd like to do." Clockwork's voice held another meaning, Danny was certain the next few days weren't going to be easy for him. A blue portal opening behind the ghost. "I'll see you again." With that the elder ghost was gone and Danny was speechless.

Clockwork, the man who knew what damage messing with time and cause, had just offered to take everything back to the beginning... Maybe if he accepted things wouldn't be bad, why else would Clockwork offer? No, Danny shook his head clear of that thought. The man could just be testing him. For now, he wasn't going to think so much about turning back the clock, no for now he'll try to figure out what it is he needs to do to fix everything. However that can wait for the morning.

With a tired yawn, the teen put his earbuds in and made the journey back to the holding home. He probably would get chewed out for being out past curfew, Jack did tell him that he had to be home by nine thirty or there will be consequences. Danny snorted to himself, like anything this man could do would make him obey curfew... He didn't follow his parents curfew.

* * *

What young Daniel wasn't expecting was to show up to the home with Smith, Anderson, and a few police officers waiting for him. When he opened the door, his face paled and he froze. Everyone in the room, even Jack and his wife Emily, looked beyond relief when the teen came through the door.

"I-I'm sorry" Danny spoke before anyone else could. "I was at the park..."

"It's okay Danny." Smith spoke, giving him a relieved smile as he walked further into the room. "Next time, please tell Jack or Emily where you are. Okay?"

"Yea Danny" Jack stood, pulling a tensed teen into a hug, a forced smile on his lips. "We were worried you'd run off."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry anyone..." Danny nervously rubbed the back of his neck, flicking his eyes to the hard wood floor. "Are you guys here for this?"

"Oh, no." Smith let out a small laugh and shook her head, motioning for Danny to take a seat. "I guess we got a bit distracted, we're here about your family."

"Can I see them?" Daniel instantly asked, hope flutter in his chest. Said optimism quickly began to fade when he saw the look on everyone's faces. A frown pulled at his lips, and his eyebrows furrowed.

"We have good and bad news." Anderson spoke from his seat, a sympathetic look in his eyes. "Good news, you get to see your mother and sister. It will be a supervised visit and it will be an hour long." The hope restored itself, but not by much when he realized his father wasn't mentioned.

"What about my dad?" Danny couldn't help the fear that slide into his voice. "When can I see him?"

"I... I'm sorry Danny, but you can't yet." Smith gave him a sad smile. Danny could feel the tears welling in his eyes, his breathing and pulse quickened. "There was bruise that after looking into was to be big for Vlad's hand to cause, the best match was your father."

"How do you know it was a hand?" Danny cried, barely holding the tears at bay but he knew they could see it. He knew which bruise they were talking about. It was that time when his dad had grabbed Phantom with the Fenton Gauntlets. Fear spiked further through him when he registered that this was the ammunition that Vlad needed to ruin everything. "My dad never hurt me!"

"Not intentionally? We do know he gets excited when it comes to ghost hunting." Smith spoke, her voice had an edge of accusation in it that made Danny's blood boiled. "Maybe he grabbed you by the arm a little to hard and didn't realize it? We just need to know if-"

"No!" Danny yelled outraged, springing from his feet, hands balled at his sides. The officers in the room tensed, hands shifting to their belts. "No, my dad never hurt me! You have no right to accuse him for doing that without know him. My dad couldn't even hurt a fly and I'm not going to sit here and listen to you drag my dad's name through the dirt." With that grounded out, Danny ran to the room he was occupying. He ignored the shouts from the adults or the soft knocks at the locked door that he heard until he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Danny we have to do something!" Sam gasped when Danny told them about what happened that night. "Vlad can get your dad arrested!"

"Unless, the gauntlets are found at his mansion." Tucker chimed, a mischievous smirk slide onto his face. "You tell them Vlad was working on them when you showed up, something pissed him off and he grabbed you."

"All Danny has to do it placing them in the place." Sam nodded, her mind reeling through the idea. "That could actually work... Don't let that go to you head." Sam added as an after thought when she saw Tucker's beaming face which dropped at her words.

"Yea, I can do that." Danny nodded as the trio once again made their way to school, again Danny was going to make it on time AND with all his homework done. He shocked himself and his friends. It was Wednesday, he just needed to make it two more days before the weekend.

"So, how'd it go with Dash last night?" Tucker questioned, his eyes trained on the blonde jock laughing with his friends. Danny paused for a moment before making up his mind.

"Not much happened with Dash. He just apologized, it was mostly awkward." Danny lied, he couldn't out Dash's secret after he confided in him. "But after he left, Clockwork show'd up."

"Why?" Sam and Tucker basically yelled causing Danny to hush the two, blushing at the added stares that turned. People still hadn't gotten over Daniel being 'abused' by the town mayor, gossip and stares still followed him. "Sorry, but what did he want?" Sam continued, much quieter.

"He offered to turn back for me... I know, I was shocked too." Danny said, taking in the bug-eyed looks that adorned both his friend's faces. "I told him no, I didn't want to risk something worse happening. He gave me a few days to think it over before coming for my official answer."

"Dude, you have to say yes!" Tucker whisper shouted as the three neared the lockers. "You can just tell Lancer what is really causing all this."

"No, Danny don't." Sam shook her head, glaring at Tucker. "You can't risk the fact that this could let a whole lot worse. Clockwork could be testing you guys."

"I know guys, I guess we see how all this goes... But I don't think I'm going to accept Clockwork's offer"

* * *

Danny did it, school was almost out and the day went by without much of a hitch. That was until the last period of the day, which he had study hall. He was just going to finish most of his homework so he can spend the day out with Sam and Tucker before going back to the holding home. Ghosts haven't been attacking much so Danny was relieved to have a break. He's seemingly good day took a turn when his teacher broke him from his homework.

"Mr. Fenton." The teacher called for his attention. "Please report to the vice principal's office." All the eyes in the class landed on Danny as he quickly and quietly packed up. On his way out he can hear all the whispers and gossips. He can't be surprised, this is the second day he left class early after everyone heard of Vlad's arrest.

Daniel pushed the anxiety and anger down, he was pretty sure why Lancer was calling him to his office but he really didn't want to deal with all this. After not being able to see his dad, Vlad most likely to go through with his threat, and the fact that he was about to see Vlad the afternoon of the day he was arrested but he had to wait until Saturday to see his mum and sister. Now adding on the turmoil that is most likely to come from this meeting, he knew he was not going to be feeling well.

Danny entered the office and softly closed it behind him. He took a seat, placing his bag on the ground, barely sparing a glance at Lancer, and kept his gaze on the floor. It was silence, something that started to grind at Danny's bone. Every since all this happened, all everyone does around him is be silent. Everyone was so scared to say something wrong, but they don't realize the silence wasn't helping.

"You know you can talk to me." Lancer broke the silence. He sighed at the cold look the teen gave him. "I'm not going to apologize for calling child protective services, you were endanger and I would do it again. However, I want you to know that I am here for you if you need to talk."

"I'm fine." Danny responded, dropping his gaze back to the floor. Yes, he did have a lot going on and even more on his chest suffocating him, but he wasn't going to tell Lancer that.

"Daniel, I know you aren't. Anything you tell me won't leave this room unless you give me permission, or it's life threatening." Lancer explained, folding his hands across his desk.

"I'm here at school, and I haven't missed an assignment yet." Danny grounded. "I'm fine."

"Chicken soup for the soul Daniel!" Lancer cried, pressing a finger to his temple. "That all doesn't matter if you aren't okay."

"What do you want from me?" Daniel hissed, the tears gathering in his eyes once more. He continued, even though he knew he shouldn't have, ignoring Lancer's stunned face. "That I had to see Vlad yesterday, but I can't see my sister and mum until Saturday? That when I saw Vlad he told me if I didn't retract my statement that he would drag my father down with him? That they found a bruise that they are blaming on my dad, which will just back up the threat Vlad made? That every where I go, I get stared at and talked about and everyone is so goddamn scared of saying something wrong that they won't say anything!"

Danny paused, his breathing heavy, he quickly wiped at his face not realizing that he had started crying. Lancer stared, his widened and mouth agape at the sudden outburst. It took another moment before Lancer recomposed himself, but before he could speak Danny had already thought of new words to speak.

"You don't realize how hard it is to adjust from being the kid in the shadows to the new amusing show. People are constantly coming up with stupid rumors, trying to guess what Vlad has done to me, others coming up with theories that I'm lying for attention." Daniel's anger only spurred the tears to stream down his reddened face faster. "I have to deal with students saying things and I have to ignore them. I can't tell Sam or Tucker more than half the things I hear because I don't want anyone to get in trouble, and the worst thing is it's only the second day. Can you imagine all the shit the kids will come up with when the investigation increases? What will happen when Vlad accuses my dad of helping him?"

Danny couldn't handle it anymore. Not caring that he just blew up on the vice principal, he dropped his head into his hands, sobs wracking his trembling form. Not a word was uttered, but Lancer stood, his chair squeaking softly as it was pushed back. He made his way to his student's side, and crouched down, wrapping a hand around the slender teen's shoulders.

Not thinking about Lancer being his teacher who started this, but as a man who cared enough to be his shoulder to cry on. Danny did just that. He buried his face into the blue polo covered shoulder, and let it all out. He ended up in a hug with the older man, who quietly tried to soothe the sobbing boy. Even in that intense moment, Daniel could still register that he was going to regret all of this afterwards...

* * *

 **AN: Aaaahhh okay, but Jaylen13 was right in the reviews. I wanted to hold off revealing who it was to see if anyone would guess it correctly, and they did!**

 **I've already wrote six chapters for this story, and I'm not really even half way through it. I expected this to be like ten chapters but I guess the way I spreaded things stretched it out.**

 **If anybody had an idea of who I should move Danny to stay with, or if I should just leave him with Jack and Emily, let me know. I have few ideas how things can go but it depends on who Danny is staying with and I don't know who it should be. Let me know what you all think.**

 **As always, let me know what you think in the reviews! I really appreciate knowing what people think.**


	7. Chapter 7

Daniel yawned, rubbing his bleary eyes. Blinking as he stared at his math work, that was the only class that seemed to zap his energy and took forever to complete it. He dropped his head onto the desk with a soft _thud_ , his raven hair sprawling out around him. His gaze fell on the locks in his view, he desperately needed a haircut, his hair had gotten much more unruly.

"Danny." A harsh voice called before his door burst open. Jumping, the teen turned quickly to be meet with the head of the house. Jack's face was hard, his jaw tense as he handed Danny the phone. "It's Petunia." Daniel furrowed his eyebrow before he realize who Jack was talking about.

"Hey." Danny mumbled, turning his back to the head of the house.

"Hey Danny." Smith's cheer voice came through the phone. An odd form of hope fluttered into Danny's chest, Smith had to have good news... why else would she be so happy? "I've got great news!" Even though Danny didn't know what the news was he could still feel the bubble of excitement inside his chest, a smile tugged at his lips. Daniel took a deep breath, he couldn't get his hopes up.

"What is it?" Danny stopped himself from asking about his dad. If his dad wasn't in the news, he didn't want to risk turning the mood down.

"We found someone who would take you in while we investigated!" Smith cheered, the smile pulling at Danny's lips once more. He took a glance over his shoulder, eyes landing on Jack who still stood waiting. He can't wait to be out of here, he knew without a doubt that Jack hated his guts. This was a win-win for them both. "Given it might be a tad weird for the both of you, he was willing to take you in."

"He being?" Danny asked, a tendril of anxiety curled tightly around his heart. It couldn't be right? Yea, maybe they had gotten closer earlier, but would he really be willing to Danny in?

"Your teacher, William Lancer." The agent spoke, the joyous tone she used showed she didn't realize the affects her words were having on the teen. "Anderson had just gotten off with him, he says he can pick you up from the home after school."

The phone slipped from Danny's hand, hitting the desk beneath him with a loud noise. In his panic, he didn't hear Jack cursing at him for possibly breaking the phone. His hearted hammered against his rib cage, his blood felt like ice in his veins, and his breathing laboured as he tried to process the information he just heard. He'll be living with Lancer. Lancer, he same man who caused all this and seemed so intent on keeping an eye on him.

His fear spiked higher when he registered a real, potential issue. Lancer might find out he's Phantom, if Lancer kept his eyes on him enough. Danny's hand clenched at his chest, the trepidation swirling with him increased when he started feeling like he was choking.

"DANNY" The loud shout focused his eyes immediately, his eyes meeting Jack's slightly worried face which was overtaken by annoyance. "Breathe kid, calm down." The shock was clear on Jack's face, and if Danny was being honest he was shocked too, when the teen's breathing even out slowly, his tight grip on the arm of his chair loosened. Jack gave a nod, holding out the phone which Daniel pressed to his ear once more.

"-Danny? Is everything okay? If there is a problem we can find-"

"No, no." Danny cut in, shaking his head. "It-It just shocked me, I'm sorry. It's okay."

* * *

A hiss escaped his lips as he pressed a hand to the cut across his thigh. His eyes traveled to the Fenton Thermos that laid a few feet away from him. He had just taken done the Box Ghost... but the ghost had been able to hurt him. His vibrant emerald eyes glared at the steadily healing cut, his mind racing to figure out why this was harder. Was he that distracted, or did the Box Ghost get stronger?

Sighing, he shook his head. This is ridiculous, he was just out of it with all the stress and the fact that aside from Clockwork Danny hasn't seen a ghost in the last days until now. However, something good came out of this fight... well aside from Danny releasing some aggression. He now knew that his healing wasn't a mess, no instead it was something that Skulker, Vlad, and Technus were doing that stunted his healing to a normal rate.

Turning invisible, Danny took to the sky. He was running a tad bit late to meeting with Sam and Tucker. Landing behind the Nasty burger, he glanced at his phone and released a relieved sigh. He's only seven minutes late, it could be a lot worse. Shifting back to Fenton, he made his way into the fast food place. His mind didn't register what the people were whispering about, or the sad and worried looks that his friends had until he sat down.

"What?" Danny's eyebrows furrowed, face contorting into confusion. "What happened?"

"Danny..." Sam trailed, her eyes moving up to glare at the whispering kids who stared at the trio. " Your dad is in jail." The fry Danny swiped from Sam's plate dropped from his hand, eyes widening.

"What!" He hissed, his words earning a few stares from the kids who were still lingering. Smith or Anderson didn't tell me anything!"

"Seriously dude?" Tucker's confusion and evident anger showed. "They rush you to a meeting with Vlad but they can't tell you that your dad was on the news for being arrested a two hours ago?"

"Two hours!" Danny growled, his hands fisting and his eyes flashed for the briefest of moments. "I just got off the phone with Smith half an hour ago. She tells me I'll be living with Lancer, but not that my dad was arrested." His voice expressed his anger and hints of betrayal from all this. He couldn't believe Smith wouldn't tell him this, it was more important than Lancer.

"Wait, you're living with Lancer!" Tucker cried, whispers began to flutter around the room. Danny's head fell into the table, mostly to hide his eyes that he knew were flashing. "Dude!"

"It's bound to be better than Jack and Emily's place." Daniel mumbled into the table, he felt the anger draining out of him slowly. Don't doubt him, he's still extremely pissed off but now wasn't the time.

"You have to tell us what it's like." Sam shifted the focus onto Lancer when she noticed Danny pushing his anger to the side. "Are you going there tonight?"

"Nope, tomorrow after school he'll be picking me up from the home." Danny shook his head. "Guys, I blew up on him, what if it's awkward?" Danny decided he wasn't going to tell them about his breakdown in Lancer's office, or how Lancer was willing to give him advice and try to help in the ways he could.

"It'll be okay." Sam spoke, she realized she'd been saying that a lot lately. "He willingly is taking you in, I doubt it will be that awkward"

"Yea man." Tucker nodded, taking a bite from a fry. "He can't be holding grudges if he'll take you in." Danny nodded, from the conversation drifted to trivial things and school talk. Even when Danny made comments and laughed at Tucker's jokes he wasn't really there. Both his friends noticed, their worry for his mental health increased, but they both knew he needed them, they couldn't start up things. Danny had to much things going on.

* * *

"No." Danny shook his head. "If you want me to cooperate with anymore things, you'll take me to see my dad." His glare stayed on Smith's regretful features.

"Danny, I don't know-"

"I told you, Vlad gave me that bruise with a pair of gauntlets he has. Just check his house." Daniel growled, forcing himself to stay seated. "I'll take fifteen minutes even! Just let me talk to him!" Daniel's anger suddenly shifted to sadness as he dropped his head.

"I'll take you." Anderson stood, ignoring the shocked look Smith gave him. "We could head over now." The look Anderson gave Smith had the woman sigh in defeat, retreating into her office.

"Thank you." Danny offered a small smile, following Anderson to the car. After a pause, he spoke again. "Do you believe me?"

"About your dad not causing that bruise?" Anderson asked, his eyes still focused on the road. However he saw the nod from the corner of his eye. "I do, I am ninety-nine percent sure that Mr. Fenton didn't hurt you. That one percent is that he could have but not intentionally."

Danny just nodded, leaning his head against the window. His gaze focused on the scenery changing in front of his eyes. So lost in thought he didn't noticed Anderson making the phone call to prep his dad, or when they arrived until the car shut off.

"It's a window, phone meeting." Anderson spoke. "If we find the gauntlets in Masters' mansion than you'll most likely be able to hug him soon." Danny nodded eagerly, however he couldn't stop the tears that pricked at his eyes when he saw his dad. The grey jumpsuit added to the realness of all this, Jack's hair was messy and he had a five o'clock shadow. The sad look he had dissipated when he saw Danny, a grin spreading on his worn face.

"I'm so sorry" Was the first thing that left Danny's lips when he held the phone to his ear. "I should have... I don't know, I should have prevented this. I-"

"Danny." Jack cut in, the softness of his voice shocked Danny. He couldn't remember the last time he saw his dad so relaxed. A somber look was held in Jack's eyes regardless of the smile still on his lips. "I should be the one apologizing. I never noticed, I looked over everything."

"But I knew Vlad was going to call you out..." Danny swallowed around the lump in his throat. "I should have said something, I was just-"

"You were scared." Jack shook his head, not going to let his son take all the blame. "I get it, I don't blame you. How's your mum and Jazz?" Jack quickly shifted the conversation. Even if his dad wasn't being his childish self, Danny still felt like this was the same dad that has always been there.

"They wouldn't let me see them." Danny answered, sniffling softly. "But they set a meeting up for Saturday... Have you?"

"Not yet." Jack smiled, which faltered slightly when it looked over his son's shoulder. "I love you Danny."

"I love you too Dad" Danny managed out before Anderson retrieved him. The fifteen minutes went by so fast, he didn't even seem like they talked for long. Daniel didn't put up a massive fight when it came to leaving, he's heart was to heavy with all the grief he has left his family to deal with. His mind wondered to his threat against Vlad... He could out Vlad, that would end all credibility Vlad had.

He shook his head, barely registering getting back in the car. His gaze stayed on the moving images before him. He couldn't tell the world about Vlad, not yet. Yes, maybe Danny Phantom did have the whole student body behind him, but many of the adults still viewed him as a menace. Not to mention the Guys In White would most likely never stop hunting him, even if the whole of Amity Park was supporting him.

"You alright?" Anderson asked, his eyes flickering from the road to Danny then back.

"Yea..." Danny nodded.

"I know it was probably a shock seeing your father like that, but if he didn't do anything then He'll be free soon enough." Anderson reassured. "We are working on the search warrant for the mansion already." Danny flashed the older man a thankful smile, he was more than relief he had choose to his the gauntlets in Vlad's mansion before he'd dealt with the Box Ghost.

Regardless of how much people thought the young teen was clueless, he wasn't so clueless that he forgot to wipe the gauntlets of any prints. Knowing any lawyer Vlad could hire, if there were any prints of his dad, it would be used against them.

* * *

Daniel yawned, his eyes trained on the wide moon above him while a song fluttered through his earbuds. The swings creaked softly into the night air, the soft sound of them broke through the music only seeming to calm the young halfa. He knew that if Jack or Emily decided to mention to Anderson or Smith about his late night disappearance then he would be in for a lecture. But he doubted either of them cared enough too.

The sound of the swing beside him being occupied didn't gauge a reaction from the teen at all. Mostly because Danny had caught the red Letterman jacket and blonde hair in the corner of his eyes. He turned his gaze to the jock beside him, pocketing his earbuds, he gave the other teen a smile.

"Hey Dash" Danny nodded , turning his gaze back to the stars.

"What are you doing out?"

"Just needed to clear my head." Daniel mumbled, running a hand through his messy locks. "You?"

"Same." The silence that hung between the two was nowhere near awkward, but a tension did build until Dash decided to finally speak. "Did your dad ever actually?"

"Oh god no." Danny groaned, dropping his head to look at the floor. "Vlad's just pissed off that I ratted on him, so he's trying to get my dad in trouble. It'll blow over though." Dash nodded, his eyes stayed glued to the tree line before them.

"He's trying to get you to retract your statement?" Dash broke the silence once more, Danny realized that Dash had been trying to figure out Vlad's intention. "Are you?"

"No, that frootloop deserves this." Danny shook his head, his ebony hair fell in front of his cobalt eyes. "My dad didn't do anything, it'll all be cleared."

The duo went back into a silence. This time no tension built, both teens already said all they needed too. Danny choose not to ponder too much on why he trusted Dash enough to talk to him about it. Maybe it's the fact that Dash has some sort of idea on what he was going through. Even if it wasn't necessarily child abuse in the context he was saying it was, Dash did know how it felt to be hurt almost daily by enemies.

A smile slipped onto Danny's lips as he returned his gaze to the stars in time to catch a shooting star. Even with all the heartache, and lies that all this was stringing from him, he couldn't help but feel grateful, maybe even happy, that he had seen this new side of Dash and even Lancer. Maybe all this could end well, maybe he didn't need to take Clockwork up on his offer.

* * *

 **AN: Yay! I did it. I aimed for the chapter to be 2,500 or more and I made it to 2,645.**

 **I actually really like writing this story because it's like I'm reading it along with you guys. If that makes sense... When I type this my fingers just move, I type any idea that pops into mind that seems good. So, I'm not even expecting half the stuff I write per update.**

 **Except a few things. I have a few set things that will be occurring in the next few chapters that are crucial for the plot. I can't wait to finish this.**

 **I'm still surprised that this all started off as a one shot, and then it turned into a little plot bunny and has just been growing in momentum.**

 **I hope you all liked this update, Please Review and let me know what you thought.**


	8. Chapter 8

Daniel snapped a piece off of his protein bar, chucking the piece into his mouth. His eyes scanned across the students, who had chosen to have lunch outside, from his perch on the roof of the school. It took some persuading, but he was able to convince his two friends that he would be fine. The two have become much like helicopter parents since this whole incident. The two did not fail to notice the decline in their friend's health, even just the few days have done some damage to Danny.

Danny sighed when he noticed his bar had been finished. He wasn't in any mood to deal with the students in the cafeteria, so he'll just eat something later. When he meets Sam and Tucker at the nasty burger. A frown etched it's way onto his face when he realized that's the only other time he eats anything. He's been so focused on getting his work done and trying to figure out how to fix things that he forgets too often he still needs fuel.

"I didn't know anyone else at lunch here." Danny jumped, turning he was met with a student. Immediately Danny knew he was one of the potheads of the school. "Mind if I sit?" Daniel hesitated for a moment, everyone knew when you invite a pothead to sit with you, your inviting them smoke near you. At least that what happens in his school.

"Sure why not." Danny nodded, taking in the teen's appearance. He reminded him of Sam, dressed in mostly black. His purple hair was flopped to the side, the other was shaved. Aside from his hair, the nose and eyebrows piercings were the most noticeable feature. "I'm Danny." He offered his hand.

"Yea, I know. I'm Chris." Chris shook Danny's hand, offering him a smile. "Came up here to dodge the masses?" Danny chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"That obvious?"

"Nah, I do the same." Chris smirked, popping a piece of brownie in his mouth. "Want some?" He offered Danny,who politely refused.

"I haven't seen around much" Danny commented offhandedly, hoping Chris would explain. This prompted a laugh and a shake of the head from the other male.

"Probably cause I skip pretty much all my classes." Chris tilted his head, brown eyes staying on the students below them. "I moved here, like a month or so ago, since then I've just been dodging most of my classes. Some teachers don't even know what I look like." The playful tint by the end of Chris's sentence caused Danny to laugh.

"Can't lecture you there." Danny laughed, shaking his head. "I've skipped so many classes... or showed up really late to them." Chris laughed, pointing a finger at the teen.

"Brother of Jasmine Fenton not a golden student? I'm shocked." Chris chuckled, his features sobering after the short laugh. "Don't you just hate it when people compare you to family?" He asked, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

"Tell me about it." Daniel sighed. "I have to a be genius because of my family. You?" Chris tossed the plastic wrap that held his brownie off the roof, chuckling when it hit a jock's head.

"Doctors." Chris ran a hand through his hair. "My dad's a neurosurgeon. My mum was a pediatrician. Damn shame, I'm planning on being an artist" Chris laughed, taking a glance at the watch secured to his wrist. "Well, looks like it's time for-" The school bell cut his sentence short.

The pair traded goodbyes. Chris stayed on his perch on the school roof, while Daniel made his way to the last period of the day. Anxiety drummed through his veins as he made his way through the halls. His mind drifting to what it would be like to live with his teacher...

* * *

Danny's eyes watered slightly at the view of his living room, the only light came through the slightly opened curtains. Daniel floated softly through the room, a plain black bag thrown over his shoulder. He made a mental note to ask his mum and Jazz why they weren't staying at the house... Or at least ask Jazz. He sighed and shook his head, he needed to hurry and get his things.

He floated through the roof, into his bedroom. Forgetting his mission to make it seem like no one was there, Danny planted himself on his bed, looking around his room. He never thought after only two days away from his home, he would miss it so much. He never thought he would regret complaining about his parents, or how much he'll do anything to hear Jazz's psychobabble. He'd never expect two days could change things so much.

The sudden ring from his phone startled the teen, causing him to phase halfway through the bed. A soft laugh escaped him, lightening the mood that had settled, he pulled himself up. Shaking his head, he walked forward to float before his Dumpty Humpty poster. He phased his hand into the wall, quickly locating a small plastic bag. Taking a look in Danny nodded, placing the bag into the one that was laid on his shoulder. In that smaller bag rested a small first aid kit, and a few snacks.

Phasing off into the bathroom, Danny sighed. He had ten minutes before he needed to be back at the holding home. Time to make quick work of the remaining stashes.

* * *

Danny tugged the sleeves further down his arms, his pacing continued it's slow rhythmic pattern. He had made it back to the home with three minutes to spare, and it has seemed like an eternity since he landed in his room. Lancer should be arriving soon, and Daniel was nowhere near ready for any of it. Given Danny didn't really have any hard feelings for what Lancer did, he more so was angry with himself, so that wouldn't be an issue. No, the issue was the fact that he would be staying to live with a teacher. For god knows how long.

The teen groaned, falling back onto the bed. He seriously needed to stop this anxiety from growing. Everything will be just fine, him and his friends will figure this all out. He won't need clockwork, and it will all be just fine. Danny sighed, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes. Maybe if he thinks like that enough, he might start believing it himself.

"Danny!" A call came from down the stairs. "Lancer is here." Danny strained his ears, he caught the soft murmur of voices. Standing, he shouldered on the black bag that held his small group of possessions. He could do this, it'll all be okay. He pulled open the door and made his way down the stairs, living with Lancer can't be so hard, right?

* * *

Daniel groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Living with Lancer wasn't going to be easy, he now knew that for sure. Lancer had insisted he eat something because he hadn't seen Danny at lunch. He didn't help when Lancer decided to pull a Jazz and talk about how something traumatic can cause eating issues. Just the few hours he has been here, he was met with a different side of Lancer.

A side in which Danny realize that Lancer would make a great father. He had made sure Daniel had everything he needed before he left. Danny snorted, he just registered that he never caught why Lancer left the house. The teen flopped back, picking up his phone. He had a meeting with Sam and Tucker at the Nasty Burger, then he would have to come back, pretend he went to bed, and sneak out for night patrols.

A yawn escaped him, quickly followed by a shiver and a cold release of air. Yet an other groan passed from his lips, annoyance filling his veins. As much as he had misplaced aggression, didn't mean he always wanted to release it on a ghost. His eyes slide closed, he really did not feeling like dealing with anything right now.

However, the ghosts had different ideas. Another violent shiver raked through him, a freezing puff of air escaping his lips. A frustrated groan sounded from him, he jumped into a sitting position. Moving he phased the small bags he gathered into the walls of the home, two in his room, one in the bathroom, another in the kitchen, and lastly in the living room. Making a mental note to remember where he placed them, he shifted to Phantom and went on his way to deal with the ghost that insisted on bothering him.

* * *

With a soft thud, Danny fell into the bedroom he was staying in. A hand pressed tightly at the bleeding cut that laid across his chest, he propped himself up off the floor with the open windowsill. He focused his hearing for a moment, holding his breath in hopes that Lancer wasn't home. He heard the soft breaths of someone sleeping, a relieved sigh escaped him.

Daniel had met up with Sam and Tucker after a run in with Johnny 13, and Kitty. Before he could even tell them about Lancer, more ghosts decided it would be a great idea to cut their meeting short. They kept popping up one after the other and they had to make a few stops to the Fenton Ghost Portal to empty out the Fenton Thermos.

Grabbing a bag from inside the wall, he flopped himself onto the bed. He shifted back to Fenton, and pulled his shirt off. A wince escaped him when his eyes landed on the gash currently leaking out red blood with little specks of green. The knowledge that the cut was still bleeding told Danny his healing factor wasn't going to be kicking in. Whatever Skulker hit him with still stunted his healing.

His eyes dropped, a yawn made it past him. He tried to blink away the tired tears, he needed to get this clean and covered... Well, maybe he can do the cleaning in the morning. Stifling another yawn, Danny grabbed the gauze and wrapped it tightly around his chest, wincing at the pressure it gave. He fell to a lay, the bag of medical supplies sprawled across his bed.

He could close his eyes for just a little. He'll be up soon before school started, and he could clean and properly bandage his wound then. For now, Daniel would give in to his exhaustion. Just a few hours, turning he set an alarm onto his phone. He needed to be sure he was up. With a yawn, cobalt eyes slid close and Danny fell into a deep slumber...


	9. Chapter 9

Danny jumped up with a start. He blinked away the grogginess that laid in his eyes, trying to catch what it was that woke him up so roughly. His hands landed on a wet spot on the bed, looking down his eyes widened. His gaze fell onto his chest, and a groan escaped him. Blood drenched the bandage around his chest, and the sheets on the bed. Rolling onto his back with wince, he paused, taking a deep breath.

He still felt immensely tired, but he knew his alarm should be going off soon enough. His eyes fell once more on the stained sheets, his mind racing on what he should do. He could phase the blood out, but where would he put it? Pulling himself into a sitting, shaking his head clear of the tired foggy that began to gather again. He gathered the medical supplies back together from where they scattered.

He felt the throbbing radiating from his chest, grimacing at the feeling of the bandage peeling away from the torn skin. Danny scowled himself for being an idiot, he should have worked this properly, rather than just throwing a gauze over it. He rolled up the soiled wrap, placing it by the sheets, grabbing a cotton ball he covered it in rubbing alcohol and worked to cleaning the wound.

The sharp burn that erupted on contact only weaseled a tiny wince from the teen. The feeling was all too familiar to him, his movements all done robotically from muscle memory. His mind drifting to random thoughts before his realized something, a groan escaped him. He didn't finish his homework, and he's been doing so well these past three days.

"Daniel?" A knock sound at his door, causing the teen to jump, the rubbing alcohol fell to the floor. Danny was never so glad that he closed it before it fell. "What was that? Can I come in?"

"No!" Danny yelped, startled that Lancer was up. His alarm didn't go off... Danny cursed himself, leave it to him to set the alarm for PM rather than AM. "uh, no. I'm okay... I'll-"

"Bridget Jones' Diary!" Lancer gasped, his eyes glancing between Danny's bandaged chest, and the blood soak sheets and cotton balls near him. Danny took on a dear caught in headlights look, eyes widened in fear.

"I-I-I can explain!" Danny jumped from the bed, every part of him was yelling at him to run. To just turn around and phase out through the wall. He pushed down the very instinct to turn invisible, Lancer didn't need to start questioning how the teen disappeared before his eyes.

"What happened? Masters is in custody, who did this?" Lancer stepped into the room. "We need to get you to the hospital-"

"No!" Danny furiously shook his head. "It was just a scratch, it's not as bad as it seems. That just, uh, gathered overnight."

"Overnight?! You came back injured?!"

"No... I, um, snuck out after dinner..." Danny trailed, his gaze dropped to the floor, a hand rubbing the back of his neck while his other wrapped across his chest. "We were just... We-"

"Daniel, tell me who did this." Lancer's tone made anxiety flare in Danny. There was no way he was getting out of this.

"We ghost hunt, okay." Danny sighed defeated, he wrapped his arms around his abdomen and kept his eyes downcast. "My-My parents aren't the best, and Phantom can't be everywhere so when Sam, Tuck and I helped him once, we got him to let us help him on night patrols."

"Is that why? Did Masters really-"

"Yes!" Danny's eyes landed on Lancer, his eyes hard with truth. "Vlad did like to beat the crap out of be whatever chance he did... usually during the patrols but I couldn't just let the town get overrun by ghosts!"

"Daniel, this is dangerous, you could get seriously injured. This isn't a game." Lancer's face clearly showed his concern. His hands motioning to the blood covered bedding. "Did you not think I would find out?"

"My parents never did." Daniel mumbled, his eyes flickered downwards. "Just, let me do this?"

"Daniel-"

"No, look. I can balance this. Vlad was what messed everything up, but I can do this." Danny pleaded. Even though he knew Lancer couldn't truly stop him, he would try. He was staying with the teacher, he needed to at least have his permission.

"Two conditions." Lancer sighed after a moment of silence. Danny's nod prompted him to continue. "First, if it starts to take a large toll on you physically or mentally, you will take a break. Second, if you get injured like this again, you come to me. Deal?"

"Yes, yes." Relief flooded the teen's features, causing a small smile to slip its way onto Lancer's face. "Thank you"

* * *

"And he's just okay with us hunting ghosts?" Sam asked, doubt evident on her face. Danny shrugged, pulling a book from his locker. The trio crowded around their lockers, going over the events of that morning.

"And he insisted to drive you?" Tucker added.

"I'm telling you, it's like Lancer is naturally a protective parent." Danny closed his locker, turning to his friends.

"Now we know that the ghost hunting excuse would work just fine." Tucker urged, his face trying to communicate the words he didn't want to say.

"What?" Danny questioned, the trio sharing goodbyes as Sam parted from them.

"Dude, you should take up Clockwork's offer." Tucker exasperated, throwing his hands in the air. Danny sighed and shook his head, the duo pausing in front of Danny's class.

"No Tuck." Danny shook his head again to emphasize his point. "Unless something extremely unfix-able pops up, I'm not doing it."

"Okay man." Tucker put his hands up in a surrender form. "I just hope it all goes well." Tucker offered a smile, before the two shared farewells. Danny sighed, walking into the classroom and flashed his teacher a small smile. He found himself in the back of the classroom, eyes glued to the blank notebook before him. Keeping his ears trained on the ticking of the clock, rather than the gossip around, waiting for class to start. Also waiting for when he won't be the hottest gossip.

"Hey Fenton." Danny looked up startled to find Dash taking the desk next to him, the blonde smiling at him.

"Hey Dash" Danny nodded, offering his own small smile. Ever since the first meeting at the park, the two created a small friendship, although this is the first time any of them confronted the other at school.

"Everything good?" Danny could clearly see concern in Dash's blue eyes. Daniel nodded, his smile staying on his lips.

"Yea, just a little weird... Ya know?"

"Figure staying with a teacher would be." Dash nodded. Danny was going to retort back when the final class bell rang, cutting the conversation to an end. Leaving Danny's sentence unspoken...

* * *

Thursday evening, and Friday went by without too much of a hitch. Most of Daniel's issues came from ghosts who have finally decided to comeback, but never answer Danny on why they left in the first place. He hasn't gotten any new cuts that would need Lancer's attention. He planned to keep up his side of the deal they made... Only if he was bleeding.

Now, Danny found himself pacing back and forth waiting for Smith to tell him he can go in to see his sister and mum. Four days have passed since the last day he had seen either of them, well he noticed Jazz in the halls but she usually steered clear of him. Which he couldn't blame her, he knew she would do anything to keep the case from being corrupted.

"You keep pacing like that you'll pace yourself a hole." Anderson joked, his eyes stayed glue to the magazine in his hands. The teen huffed, flopping into chair of the waiting room. "You'll be in soon."

"Not soon enough-"

"You can go in." Danny jumped up, following Smith towards the room. Tears pricked at his eyes, a lump forming in his throat. "I was able to pull a few strings so that you guess can have your privacy." Daniel looked up shocked, a smile sliding on his lips.

"Thank you, that's-that means a lot." If Smith heard the slight crack in his voice, or the watery affect the pushed back tears had on his vocals, she didn't mention it. Instead, she rested her hand on his arm and gave him a smile.

"Good Luck." Danny thanked her again before opening the door and stepping in. The tears slide down his face when his eye's landed on the tired faces of his family, dark bags cleared under their eyes.

"I-I'm so-so sorry!" Danny cried, pulling the two of them in a hug. The guilt that had been building, and released a little with his father, came crashing on him. "I got dad arrested!"

"Sh" Maddie soothed her child, it broke her heart to see her baby boy hurting. It broke her heart more knowing that it has been happening for some time and she never noticed. "It's not your fault. It's the awful man, Vlad Masters. Your not to blame."

"Danny, none of this is your fault. It's basic victimology, but you caused none of this." Jazz ran her hand through his hair, her own tears stayed at bay while his mother cried her heart out.

It took a few minutes. The trio just stood there crying, Jazz gave into her tears after a few seconds of holding back. Danny felt his heart clenching knowing that he was the cause of his always strong sister cracking.

"Why aren't you guys staying at home?" Danny question when the three migrated to the table in the room. "The signs off..."

"We figured any evidence they might think could be there won't be tampered with if we stayed somewhere else." Jazz answered. "I won't be telling you where little brother , because knowing you you'll try to visit." The three chuckled softly.

"Where have you been?" Maddie asked, not being able to bring herself to finish the sentence.

"I, uh, first stayed at a holding home." Daniel informed, wringing his hands underneath the table. "The agents were asking who would take me in, and Mr. Lancer said he could. I started staying with him on Wednesday."

"That's nice of him." Maddie smiled. "Remind me to get him a gift basket."

"No ectoplasm please." Jazz retorted, dragging a chuckled from Danny.

"Have you seen dad?" Danny questioned, regretting it when the mood darkened. "I went to, um, see him the other day..."

"We did." Jazz nodded.

"We actually went yesterday." Maddie added, a small smile fell on her lips. "He was ecstatic you came to visit."

"Of course I did, Smith and Anderson are trying to keep contact minimal." Danny mumbled the last part, his eyes falling onto the table.

"Danny-"

"I'm so sorry to interrupt." Smith called from the now open door. "I know you three still have half an hour left, but there has been an emergency."

"What happened?" Maddie jumped from her seat. A sense of dread filled Danny, curling tightly around the knot that already sat in his stomach. The dread mingled and entwined with the depression and Anxiety that already sat there, causing a much more intense fury of emotions. He swallowed thickly, his eyes never leaving the concerned, and worried look on the agent's face.

"It's-It's your husband." Smith rushed, she was flushed in her cheeks. Her whole posture and face screamed she was in a rush, screamed that something tragic happened. "He's been-He's been stabbed. He's at the hospital."

* * *

 **AN: Ahhhhh! I feel bad for putting Danny through all this bullshit, but like I gotta.**

 **Just so ya'll are prepared, this is not the worse it's going to get, shit's just going to spiral downward from here.**

 **Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this update.**

 **Also, let me know what you all are doing for Halloween tomorrow (if you celebrate), I'm spending the day in a Jack Skellington onsie (Union suit, same damn thing) probably doing homework of working on my fanfiction.**

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	10. Chapter 10

Danny stared blankly at the wall of the hospital waiting room, his sister and mother were both missing from the room. He didn't want to think about any, he didn't want to think about how his dad was having his third surgery, or how it's been two days since he's been stabbed, or how all this was his fault.

"Stop thinking." Danny jolted in his seat, turning to come face to face with Anderson. "You should have gone to school."

"And miss any news on my dad? No thanks." Danny sighed, turning his gaze back on the wall.

"This isn't your fault." Anderson attempted to comfort the teen, taking a seat in the stiff blue chair. "It was a wrong time, wrong place situation."

"He wouldn't be there if it weren't for me." Danny mumbled, resting his chin on his hand. "If I didn't mess up, then none of this wouldn't have happened."

"Danny you didn't do anything." Anderson sighed, eyes trained on the teen. "If anything this is Masters fault!"

"You won't get it." Danny pushed the tears that pricked at his eyes back. "He just-He has to-"

"Your dad will be just fine." Anderson reassured. "Soon enough he'll wake up and it'll be okay. His name will be cleared, Masters will be in prison. All will end well." Danny looked over at Anderson, eyes glossy and gave a small smile.

"Nothing is ever that easy for me..."

* * *

Danny groaned at the view of himself in the mirror, his eyes flashing to look at the pile of clothes that sat in the corner of his room. It's back to school, and he's forgotten to do any laundry, Sam was going to love this. Danny stood, dressed in ripped black skinny jeans, an over-sized Star Wars shirt. He didn't even remember packing these. Danny laughed and shook his head, remembering how he got these. The jeans came when he lost a bet with Sam and had to go goth for a week. The shirt came when Tucker got it for his birthday and thought he'd grow into it because of his dad's genes.

"Danny, your friends are here." Danny tossed his bag over his shoulder and rushed out of the room. He shouted a see you later and was almost out the door only for a hand to hold the door down. He looked over to see Lancer holding out a paper bag. "Breakfast. We have this conversation every morning."

"Sorry." Danny chuckled, taking the food. "Thanks."

* * *

"Danny...Danny...Danny...DANNY!" Danny jumped, focusing his eyes on an annoyed Sam. "I know a lots going on, but you need to stop zoning out." Sam groaned, taking a bit out of her lunch.

"Sam-" Tucker started, looking at the goth shocked. Danny's eyes turned to a glare.

"A lot going on?" Danny hissed, glaring at the vegetarian. "I can't right now, Sam."

"That's the thing! You don't seem to be able to do anything!" Sam threw her hands in the air. The movement gathered the attention of a few students in the area. "You're constantly ditching Tuck and I, we only see you in class and ghost hunting!"

"I'm sorry I've been so damn busy trying to fix this whole mess" Danny hissed, his voice lower than Sam's. "Quiet down before everyone in the school knows."

"Sam, cut Danny a break." Tucker cut in, trying to defuse the anger building between the two. "His dad's in a coma, it's going to be a little hard to be here."

"That's no excuse to ditch your friends-"

"Sam, Danny-"

"I'm Done." Danny grounded, getting up from his seat. Leaning forward, he hissed out. "If your done doing this, you know where to find me." Before either of the two teens could stop him, Danny was out of the cafeteria. Leaving behind a distraught Tucker, and a fuming Sam with all the student body in the cafeteria staring at them.

* * *

"Didn't think I'll see you back up here." Chris smirked, turning to see Danny take a seat next to them. "What brings you here?"

"My friends are being dipsticks." Danny sighed, annoyance spiking when he realized he left his lunch at the table. "Probably will be up here a lot more often."

"Best place to be alone." Chris mused, puffing out some smoke from his cigarette. "Sucks about the friends, it's around times like these you find out whose your true friends."

"Yea." Danny shook his head, tugging the sleeves of his shirt over his hands. "At least Tucker is more understanding."

"You'll always have one friend" Chris emphasized by holding out his index finger. "That one friend that sticks by you, especially when you least expect. I advise you to take their advises to heart." Danny absentmindedly nodded, his mind rolling over Chris's words. If he listened to Tucker, than when Clockwork shows up he would take him up on his offer. Sam thinks its not worth the risk, but she hasn't been very understanding.

Internally groaning, Danny just didn't know what to do. Too many different options and decisions that might just cause his whole world to fall apart. Or fix it. Everyday there seemed to be a new issue that just keeps adding onto all this anxiety that has been festering since Lancer called him in to his office. All of it overloading the teen...

* * *

"I didn't see you in class." Dash spoke, taking the swing next to Danny. "Did you skip because of what happened with lunch?"

"Everyone knows about that now?" Danny groaned, running a hand down his face. Dash gave the other teen a sad look.

"If Manson and Foley can't understand everything" Dash spoke, his eyes trained on the brunette. "Then they aren't really your friends."

"Tucker, he gets it. It's just Sam." Danny sighed, and shook his head. "I'm just going to give her space..."

"Best thing to do." Dash nodded, kicking his legs softly. The two fell into a silence, as usually happened during a meet up at the park. Danny shivered lightly due to the cold air, tugging his sleeves down. He glanced over at Dash, then back down at the grass.

"Hey Dash." Danny prompted, earning a glance from the jock. "If you had the chance to go back, to stop what had happened before, would you?" A silence filled the air, Dash mulling over Danny's words. Danny's heart hammered in his rib cage, worried he shouldn't have asked.

"Actually, no." Dash shook his head, a thoughtful look on his face. "It was because of all that that I'm where I am now. I mean, I probably never be friends with Paulina or Kwan if that hadn't happened."

Danny nodded, biting his lip. His mind racing to figure out what he should do. Clockwork was offering him a way out, now having to find out if his dad woke up or not. Sighing, Danny shook his head. He still had sometime to figure it all out... hopefully he did. Danny jolted, pulling his phone out from his pocket. Without checking the caller ID, he answered and pressed it to his ear.

"Hey?"

"Hey Danny, it's Anderson." Came a barely concealed excited voice of his male social worker. Danny froze for a moment, his mind working to figure out what happened.

"Anderson? What happened? Is everything okay, is-"

"Danny" Anderson cut in, Danny heard him take a deep breath. "It's about your dad... Danny, he just woke up."

* * *

Danny had rushed straight to the hospital. He could barely believe his dad has finally woken up, his day just took a good turn. He only hoped it stayed that way.

"Have you seen him?" Danny sniffled, hugging his sister. "Where's mum?"

"Yea, they're having us go one at a time." Jazz smiled. "Mum's in there right now, and he's doing just fine. Have you been sleeping?" Jazz asked, her eyebrows furrowing at the bags that had darkened under her brother's eyes. Danny smiled sheepishly.

"I've been getting a few hours." Danny rubbing the back of his neck. "I've been busy with hunting, and school work." Jazz raised an eyebrow, her features letting Danny know she didn't believe a thing he was saying.

"Is that all?" She questioned, and Danny nodded. Even if he was lying, those two things did play a large part of it all. Given last night he hadn't had much ghosting hunting... or homework, it had mostly been his anxiety and thoughts that kept him awake. "Danny-"

"Hey baby!" Maddie cut in, exiting her husband's room. Her eyes were red rimmed, tears were clearly being held back. "How are you?" She questioned, concern clear in her voice as she hugged Danny.

"Yea, I'm fine mum." Danny smiled, hoping the slight falter of his voice went unnoticed. "Can I see him?" He asked. In response he got a vigorous nod.

"Yea, yea you can." Maddie gave a slightly forced smile, pulling away from the hug, but kept her arms on her son's shoulders. "He's a bit off, they gave him some painkillers." Danny nodded, making his way to his father.

"Hey Dad." Danny spoke, sliding into the room. His eyes watered more seeing his dad hooked up to a few machines, dark bags under his eyes. "Hey, are you okay?" Danny smiled, sliding into the chair next to his dad's bed. His dad's face lit up.

"Hey Danny-boy!" Jack grinned, pushing himself into a more seated position. "It's take more than this to take down a Fenton." Danny couldn't help the genuine smile that slipped onto his face. Leave it to his dad to always keep his attention on the positive of things.

"Yea, how could I forget." Danny mumbled, swallowing around the lump in his throat. He placed his hand in his father's larger one. "what...What happened? It's just they wouldn't really tell me and-"

"It was just a wrong time, wrong place issue." Jack cut in, gripping his son's hand. "And it isn't your fault. Before you deny anything, Agent Anderson told me about your talk." Danny sighed, and shook his head. Wiping a few tears that slipped by.

"It's hard not to..." Danny mumbled.

"Even though, I don't blame you." Jack spoke, his face serious before a smile overtook it. "I've got good news though. They had proof that I never hurt you, I'm a free man!" Danny froze, wide eyes landing on his dad's grinning face. His jaw drop, waiting for his dad to tell him it was a joke. But he did. A grin spread on Danny's face, he threw himself into his dad, hugging him. A laugh rumbled from Jack, as he hugged his son back, the grin never slipping from his face.

"That means you'll be going home with Jazz and Mum?" Danny questioned, pulling away. The smile still fresh on his face.

"All of us will be together soon." Jack grinned.

Things were starting to go in a good direction. He'll be home soon and there will be no need for Clockworks offer. Vlad would even be off his back, and serving time that he definitely deserved. For once Danny felt like everything was going to end in his favor, nothing could go wrong. Everything seemed set, and he couldn't be happier...

* * *

 **AN: This took me longer to write, even though its short, than I expected because I had hit a small road block. I want to prolong the issues a bit longer before any other big shit happens.**

 **Sorry for bitchy Sam, but not sorry. I had rewatched Phantom Planet, and god was Sam being a bitch. I didn't like how everyone was acting because Danny took his powers away, like wth its up to him if he wants to have to worry about being a hero or a government agency doing painful experiments on him. Yea, maybe what prompted him to do it was a shitty thing but it's still his choice. He didn't have powers when they first met, so his powers don't define him. Everyone was acting like he's always had the powers, and they have always been a part of him.**

 **Anyways, Jack is alive! Here's an upside for Danny.**

 **Depending how I order the next chapter depends how many chapter there are in total, but just a heads up I'm not planning for this to be a long story. I'm also planning more Danny bonding with Chris and Dash. I want to write more Lancer, but I don't know much about him. I'm going to try, but if I hate it, it probably wont happen.**

 **I want more Lancer cause he did start all this after all, just gotta hope I can write the chapter well enough to publish. Lancer would probably be extremely ooc**

 **Well, let me know what you all though. Review, favorite, follow, all the Jazz. Thanks 3**


	11. Chapter 11

Danny yawned, leaning heavily into the back of his seat. Rubbing his bleary eyes with yet another yawn, dropping his pencil onto the desk. The week was finally over. Trial was supposed to start soon, it's been delayed because of everything that had happened. Even with everything looking up a heavy, gloomy sense of dread filled Daniel and wasn't going away. In the past few days the ghosts have been letting up... but that didn't mean his been having anymore sleep.

Every night, or should he say morning, around three AM something woke him. He doesn't know what, or why it was always at that time, but it kept happening. He'd stay up for two hours before his body finally decided he can sleep. That didn't make it any better. The sleep that followed was restless and fitful. He would wake up through out for brief moments, and he could stay still, always waking up in different positions

Danny jumped at the sound of a ping. His eyes landed on his now lighten up phone, a small smile slid its way on to his face. It was time for the one other thing that has become a constant for him. It happened every night after his dad without fail, and without planning. Every night around eight he would go down to the park, and usually Dash would end up showing up. It also helped Danny's mood that no ghosts would pop up during that time.

With a smile, the teen shrugged on jacket. A laugh escaped him when he realized the sheer size of the striped hooded jacket. Tucker had really thought he was going to grow into his dad's genes. Danny smiled when he realized that he never realized just how much clothing gifts Tucker had given him. Pulling the zipper up, Danny grabbed the spare key Lancer had given him. The older man had insisted Danny have one, after the teen kept declining his offers to drive him places.

Grabbing his wallet and phone, Danny slipped on his favorite red converses and made his way out the door. The smile still stayed sat on his lips as he plugged in his music and made for the walk to the park. For once, not in the mood to fly.

* * *

Danny hummed softly to the beat of the music, kicking his legs ever so softly. The chains still squeaked noisily into the night air, Daniel made a mental note to see if all it needed was oil. The young teen kept his eyes when he heard the shift in the swings beside him shift, the sharp shrill from the chains piercing through his music. His sapphire eyes popped open at the sound of the unexpected voice.

"Did expect to see you here, blue eyes." The purple haired teen smiled, flicking the died bud into the grass. Danny chuckled at the nickname Chris had given him, the older teen's explanation had been that he had eyes that almost seemed to glow.

"Didn't think you ever left the school roof." Danny joked, smiling back at the teen. That got hime a shove to the shoulder and a laugh from Chris.

"So..." Chris broke the growing silence. "How are things?" He questioned, starting to swing. The squeaking of the chains filled the empty park. Danny's the bought quickly supplied that every since he had gotten his powers and ghosts attack has raised, people didn't spend much time in the park after five.

"Things are starting to look up, so that's a plus" Danny shrugged, turning to face the other male. The rusty chains crossing before him. "How about you? How's skipping courses so far?" Chris released an exaggerated sigh, twisting slightly in the swing.

"Gotta start heading to classes." Chris grumbled, the corners of his lips tugging downward. "One of the teachers talked Principal Ishiyama into giving me a second chance. Starting Monday, I gotta go to classes or I'm expelled. Along with a shit ton of detention." Danny bit his lip to stop from smirking at the look his friend gave him.

"You must be proud." Danny joked, receiving a cocky grin from the goth. "I'm surprise one of your teachers even knew you existed enough to vouch for you." A chuckle escaped both teens.

"I know! Can you believe they wouldn't even tell me who?" Chris laughed, shaking his head. "Then again I don't know any teachers. Great friends with the janitor though." Chris pursed his lips, a thought fall look taking on his features. Danny outright laughed, causing the purple haired teen to stick a pierced tongue out.

"You pierced your tongue?" Danny's laughter quieted, a questioning eyebrow rose. Even with the confused face, the playful tone was clear through cobalt blue eyes.

"I don't know what your talking about." Chris crossed his arms, a challenging look slid to his face. Danny narrowed his eyes, a smirk slipping onto his lips. However, before the raven haired teen could even utter a response, a blonde clad in red took his focus.

"Hey Dash." Danny greeted with a smile, his eyes flickered to the confuse looking goth before him. When his eyes landed back on the jock, the same look of confusion clouded his features. "Uh, Chris this is Dash... Dash this is Chris." Danny made awkward hand movements between the two polar opposites.

"Hey man." Dash greeted, he offered a smile even if his eyes shone with confusion and suspicion. Chris only nodded, seeming ready to drop the greeting at that. That was until a certain younger teen kicked him in the shin. Giving the older teen a pointed look.

"Yea, hey Dash." Chris nodded, a much less forced looking smile slid onto his lips when the jock relaxed. A few seconds of tense silence followed the trio, only the squeaking of the chains filled the stale air.

"So, what can you guys tell me about a 'Coach Tetslaff'? Apparently I have her for second." Dash and Danny shared a look, a laugh pulled out from both teen. Danny shook his head, clearing his laughter. But the smile couldn't be shifted off his lips.

"Oh, what can we tell you about her..."

* * *

Daniel shifted in his seat, pacing the cup from hand to hand, his leg bounced underneath the table. His eyes kept shifting around the office, even thought by now he memorized pretty much every aspect of the room. Without having to look he could tell you that the owl shaped charm that hung right below the poster of the cat hanging from a tree was a slightly off kilt, and looked ready to drop from it's perch. He could also tell you about how many holes from nails littered the pale green walls of the room. His ran a hand through his unruly hair, huffing slightly when it landed back in front of his eye.

"Sorry for the wait." Anderson offered an apologetic smile as he entered, taking a seat at his desk. He dropped a beige colored folder onto his desk, straightened his back, a somber look taking his features. "We have a case hearing this Thursday. You will have to miss school for this, and so would a few people who have seen you and Mr. Masters together." Danny's frame tensed almost instantly.

"I'll-I'll have to testify?" Daniel asked, his hands tightening around the mug. That same dreaded feeling curling around his chest at the apologetic nod the agent gave him. "But...But Smith said that the photos would be enough and I wouldn't..."

"I know." Anderson sighed, leaning back slightly in the chair. Almost in a look of defeat. "We tried to bargain the case to exempt from having you speak, but the defense has a strong case. We were able to get me as your lawyer, which is a plus seeing as I have been overseeing this case from the start."

"You're a lawyer?"

"Yup. I know, odd, but I am a pretty good one." Anderson offered a smile when he noticed some of the tension leaving the teen's rigid shoulders. "But we need to talk about tactics. You friend, Tucker Foley, he will be called to the stand. His mother had already given permission. Along with him, Lancer, your family, you, Vlad, and a Spectra will be called as well." Danny almost spit out the water he had been drinking at the name of a certain ghost.

"Penelope Spectra?" Daniel questioned, trying to keep his voice as unwavering as he could. He didn't do a very good job when Anderson's eyes furrowed, scanning the open folder before him.

"Yes, her. Child psychologist. Why?"

"She works with Vlad." Danny bit out, swallowing harshly around the lump that was forming. The familiar feeling of something clutching at his heart and lungs shot fear through him. He bit the inside of his cheek in an attempt to ground himself, he couldn't panic. He'll be fine, Spectra couldn't tip the scales in Vlad's favor... could she?

"Danny" Anderson's concerned voice broke through the veil of fear and paranoia that had started to clear Danny's thoughts. Taking a deep breath, the teen focused his eyes back on the man. "She won't be able to do much. She's only there to give her insight. We have one of our own, an unbiased opinion." The anxiety that had been building, ready to burst, calmed at those words.

Danny released a sigh of relief, even if he knew Anderson heard it, he couldn't care. Things seem like he could win. He could actually get Vlad out of his hair once and for all. His dad would be safe, his mum wouldn't have to deal with the man's intensive flirting. Danny didn't bother trying to squish down the hope that began to bubble, instead he gave Anderson a small smile.

"So, what do I need to do?"

* * *

 **AN: So, it's been a while...**

 **I could give a few excuses, but I won't bored you all with the details. I got a chapter up! Short, but a chapter nonetheless.**

 **I plan to pick up the pace next chapter, skipping to the day before the case hearing. Everything about the process of it and things will all be coming from crime shows, nothing from research of experience.**

 **I have also lost some drive to write this, BUT I AM STILL FINISHING THIS, because My thoughts have been pulled to a certain show about a Stiles and Teenage werewolves (what the hell's a Stiles?). So, I've been mostly coming up with plans and thought on a TW/SPN crossover which I am defiantly writing in the near future.**

 **Aside from that, My drive is not completely lost on me. I still love this story and I do plan on finishing it. I have a whole plot thought out and the ending and everything. All I need is more motivation to write those chapters out. Hopefully Thanksgiving break gives me more of a chance to get shit done than I have as of right now.**

 **Well, everyone let me know what you thought about the story in the reviews. Reviews seriously help me out, so let me know, even if its criticism, I'm all ears.**


	12. Chapter 12

Danny released a deep breath he didn't know he was holding. In about twelve hours he'll have to face a jury, and intensive questioning by one of Vlad's high priced lawyers... and don't even get him started on Spectra. A shiver ran down the teen's spine at the idea of Spectra being in the same room as him. A grim feeling took root in him, he knew he was going to be like a feast to the ghost. He was nothing but a mess of negative emotions for the weeks that have passed. So much has a happened, it's no doubt the specter would be able to sense it off of him.

Groaning, Danny dropped his head into his desk. He had work to do. Even if he wasn't going to be in classes tomorrow, he still had homework he needed down. He still had to turn things in on Friday. Nonetheless, it was still a struggle for him to keep his racing mind on topic. He was much to filled to the brim with anxiety to focus on the equations and text in front of his eyes. His tired eyes landed on the red numbers on his alarm clock. _1:43._ It was already morning and he still has yet to have a winking of sleep. No sleep was going to make things a whole lot harder on the teen.

Grumbling in defeat, the young man closed his textbook and slid his papers in as a bookmark. He yawn, stretching stiffly as he stood. A groan left him when a loud pop sounded the room. Trudging over, Danny fell into bed. Even with his face pressed into the pillows, the object cutting off some air flow, and not being anywhere under the covers, the exhausted teen fell deep into ebony hair stuck out around the white pillow, covering any exposed skin of his face. Soft puffs of breath escaped the teen's parted lips, pushing some onyx strands back and forth. All the anxiety and fear was cleared from his face, instead leaving behind a innocent looking kid. Almost as if in a few hours he wouldn't be facing a possibly life changing challenge.

* * *

The ebony haired teen bit back a groan as he rubbed his eyes, focusing his tired eyes back on the alarm clock. _3:15,_ per usual. Sapphire eyes rolled, the exhausted teen flopped onto his stomach. He wanted nothing more than to sleep. He had a court hearing at one pm, he needed his sleep. However, regardless of the heaviness that weighed on his mind, his eye lids were wide open. He just couldn't sleep.

Actually releasing a groan, the teen flipped on to his back, placing a hand on his bandaged torso. The wound he had gathered was healing nicely, it was just a scab. The bandage was more at Lancer's insistence because Danny kept picking at the scab. He placed a pale hand on on his eyes, sliding them shut. Maybe if he just stayed still his mind would give in...

But time felt like it wasn't moving, and the longer he stayed still, the more he felt anxious. He couldn't quite tell what it was, but it was like having an itch you just can't scratch. Danny sighed, pulling himself into a seating position and released some of the energy and anxiety that was building under his skin. His eyes scanned the room, flashing a neon green to enhance his night vision. His slightly trembling hands began to crack his knuckles.

He froze, an odd sense of confusion filled every part of him not overtaken by the trepidation he felt. Why was his hands shaking? His eyes widened a fraction of a size when he noticed the intense anxiety that was seated, and growing inside him. Why was he so scared? Swallowing thickly, he ran a shaky hand through his hair. He needed to calm down, no one was in the room, nothing was happening, he was safe. That didn't help.

His fear only grew when he tried to figure out why he was scared. He's woken up at this time many times before, and not once had he had this happen... So what is it? Resting his hand against his beating heart, Danny could also feel the soft pulsing of his core. Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on that. He reached within himself for the familiar icy feeling. That did the trick. His shaky hands, and laboured breathing evened out. The security of his powers that can help him our of many things before calmed him tremendously.

His tense muscles relaxed, but the itch still stayed. Something was wrong, very wrong. His eyes lids began to drop, without the adrenaline keeping him up, the exhaustion was weighing on him. He fell back into bed, feeling the comforting feeling of sleep wrap around his mind. Whatever it is that's bothering him, he can find out what it is in the morning...

 _Knock Knock_

A grumble slid past parted lips, the exhausted teen turned his back to the wall. It was to earlier for this he needed sleep...

 _Knock Knock Knock_

"Daniel? Are you awake?" Danny bolted up right at the voice. Lancer. Not just Lancer, now a worried Lancer. "Are you in there?"

"Uh?" Danny stumbled out, pulling himself out of bed. Before he could bring himself closer to the door, said door opened. In front of the now awake teen stood a fully dressed Lancer. His facial expression only revealed one thing that Danny knew already. Something was very, very wrong. "What happened?" Daniel asked, the fear seeping past his usual guards. The exhaustion, and anxiety made it easy to read the teen.

"Danny..." Lancer started, a melancholy look filled his face. The elder man swallowed, seemingly not knowing what to say. "We need to get to the hospital... It's your father..."

* * *

Danny sat there against the wall outside of his father's room. He didn't do a thing to try and mask the shaking of his shoulders, or him crying into his knees. He couldn't believe this was happening now of all times. He bit back a sob as he remembered why he was here. His dad was in critical condition, they didn't know if he would make it.

Guilt clouded his mind at the sounds of his mother crying by his father's side. The teen couldn't bring himself to be anywhere near his dad's side, not when all of this was his fault. There had been a malfunction with the surgery, something went wrong and his dad had been internally bleeding. That's what lead them to where they are now.

Daniel couldn't blame the surgeons for trying to save his dad's life, or his mum or sister for not noticing the bleeding. No. He could only blame himself. All of this was his fault, not anyone else's. If he hadn't lied, if he had just told Lancer, if he had just been more careful... If he hadn't stepped inside that damn portal in the first place none of this would be happening.

"Hey..." Anderson greeted sadly, taking a seat on the floor next to the teen. Instead of his usual suit, Anderson sat in a set of faded blue jeans, sneakers, and a red hoodie. Any other day the teen would have made a comment, but not today. Instead the broken teen stared at the agent with teary eyes. "You know we can postpone the whole court hearing... We could possibly find an opening next month if anything-"

"No." Danny's voice cracked, causing the teen to clear his throat. "No, it's fine. I want to get this over with..." Anderson nodded, not needing to hear the unspoken words. The agent knew all too well the strain something like this has on a teen. The two fell into a silence, Danny's tears slid to a stop and Anderson sipped quietly at the coffee in his hands.

"You should go down to the cafeteria, get something to eat. I doubt I could talk you into getting any sleep." Anderson broke the bedded silence, his face softened when the tired teen glanced into the room. "I'll keep an eye on them, don't worry." Anderson offered a smile, seemingly cutting off any argument the teen was going to give.

"Thanks." Danny whispered, offering a small, sad smile to the older man before making his way out of the area. Anderson watched the teen go, a sense of protectiveness filling him.

The agent shook his head. He couldn't get emotionally involved, this was a case. Nothing more. Anderson took a sip of his coffee, a dreaded feeling filling him. If this was just a case what was he doing sitting on the floor of a hospital at three forty-five in the morning? A sigh escaped the man, he ran a hand through his blonde hair. He couldn't help the self loathing from bubbling inside him.

He's had many cases before, and never had he gotten this wrapped up personally. But now he has, he needs to tread lightly. He needed to distance himself, after this case was over he wasn't going to see Danny ever again, so he shouldn't feel this way. Regardless of what he knew, Anderson still felt the strong urge to protect the teen. The teen he didn't even know existed until very recently.

* * *

 **AN: Another shortish chapter.**

 **As you all know, things can't be all fun and games for our young Danny and I needed to throw some problems in here.**

 **Of course if had to involve his dad.**

 **I don't know anything about medical things, especially internal bleeding so I didn't go into details and I hope I wasn't completely off with what happened and it is semi-plausible.**

 **My motivation kinda had a spike today so I got this chapter done, I'm not sure how long this spike is going to last so I plan to try and write these chapters out soon before I start dwindling.**

 **My mind is still really focused on a SPN/TW crossover I'll be working on soon (first story not related to DP) So I'm still kinda out of it, but I will update ASAP**

 **I'm just as excited for this to finish as you all are.**

 **Let me know what you all thought in the reviews, byeee 3**


	13. Chapter 13

_Deep breaths Danny. Deep breaths._

Danny groaned, dropping his head into his hands. The fear still coiled deep inside him, anxiety thrumming through his veins. He swallowed thickly, he can do this. He was sure of it... At least Anderson and Lancer were sure of him.

A sense of sadness filled him as he picked up his head and looked at his support. Jazz, Dash, Chris, and Lancer. All of which were watching from the sidelines. A feeling of disappointment and betrayal filled him with the sight of a missing brunette. His mum had chosen to stay by his dad side, rather than being here for this. She was supposed to be called to the stand, but she pulled out not even an hour ago.

Not that Danny could really blame her. Her husband, the lover of her life was fighting for his life in a hospital bed while the kid responsible for this was about to have a court hearing. He would love to stay by his dad, but he couldn't He couldn't just let this get pushed back, he knew if he didn't do this than he wouldn't do this ever again.

"It's going to be fine." Anderson smiled, taking a seat next to the distressed teen. Danny accepted the water offered to him with a tight lip smile and whisper of thanks. "You'll just need to answer a few questions, like we talked about, it shouldn't be long."

"I'm more worried about her..." Daniel mumbled, his head tilting into the direction of a hyper redhead. His eyes scanned the room quickly for the woman's sidekick, worry filling him at the realization that the little pest is missing.

"Hey." Anderson shifted forward, getting into the teen's field of vision and forcing him into eye contact. Soft brown eyes met anxious blue eyes. "It's going to be fine. I'm not lying. Ms. Spectra would not be able to play any of this into Masters' favor. We can win this."

Danny swallowed, the fear not wavering it's hold on him. But nonetheless the teen gave the agent a small smile, appreciating that someone actually believed in all of this. Even when him himself felt like all they were doing was grasping at straws.

"Now for the case of Fenton V. Masters."

* * *

"So Mr. Fenton, can you tell be about the first instance where my client laid a hand on you?" Jessica Fredrick questioned, walking up to the stand. The color drained from the teen's face, his eyes landed on Anderson who gave him an encouraging nod.

"Take your time." The judge spoke softly. Danny swallowed and nodded, choosing to ignore the fear stricken tears that pricked at his eyes.

"It... It was the time that he-he got back into my parents lives. There was a class reunion and he invited us to stay... My parents took him up on the offer, I mean I didn't even think he was a bad guy until I noticed things. I saw how he would insult my dad in ways no one really noticed, and he would constant flirt with my mum. I...It weirded me out, I didn't want to stay long so one night I went to look for something, anything for a reason to leave...

"I stumbled on this room, he had these monitors and it looked like it showed my house... That's when I started feeling really scared and uncomfortable, so I went to get my parents. But instead I bumped into V-Mr. Masters... He seemed angry, I tried to talk to him, but he wasn't having it That's when he hit me, and he did it a few times-"

"Why did you not think to call the authorities when you were first injured?" Fredrick asked, folding her perfectly manicured hands behind her back. An air of arrogance surrounded her suited form. "If you knew that Mr. Masters was stalking your family, and you were in fear for their life, why did you not call the police?" Danny trained his eyes on the wood before him, an odd feeling bubbled inside him.

"Because that night he threatened to kill my family if I told anyone... I believed him, Heck I still believe the froot-loop could do something like that. But now-"

"Now a teacher point out your bruises, so you're using my client as an escape goat?"

"It's-It's not like that!" Danny gasped, his head snapping up to stare at the lady before him. "Vlad has been hurting me for years! I just never thought anyone would care, that anyone would even bother with me . I was-am the slacker kid who 'goofed' off a ton-"

"So you admit you tend to vary from the things before you?"

"Objection!" Anderson quickly shot from his seat. "This is irrelevant."

"This is relevant for the determination of this teen's word." Fredrick turned to the judge.

"Move on Ms. Fredrick." Judge Montreal nodded, turning his gave back on the slightly trembling teen before him. The older man felt a pang of sympathy run through him, even if for the briefest moment.

"That is all." Fredrick smiled, however her eyes seem to glare at the teen. Danny saw a glint in her eyes that caused a new wave of fear run through him. Something wasn't right...

"Mr. Fenton." Anderson greeted, motioning toward a blank projector screen. "When you were first examined the medical examiner took photo evidence, correct?" Danny responded with a nod, tense when the screen shifted to his bruised and battered body. The sight of it made him realize just how much a week can do for healing.

"The M.E. recorded that Mr. Fenton here was given a fractured hip bone, a dislocated shoulder, three fractured ribs, a hairline fracture on his left wrist, a concussion. Along with that, more than fifty five percent of his body was covered in bruises, another fifteen percent was scar tissue, and five percent were covered in various cuts." Anderson listened, flipping the slide show through the various photos of the teen's body. "Mr. Fenton, do you see the man we did this to you in this room today?"

"Y-yes." Danny spoke, his finger nails dug into his arm out of view of everyone. He needed to stay grounded, he couldn't let the anxiety overwhelm him.

"Can you tell me who that is?" Anderson asked, making sure to move from in front of Masters. Danny looked up, only to be met with dark, angry eyes.

"Uh...Vlad-" Danny swallowed, his fingers tightened drastically. A small relief filled him. "Vlad Masters." Daniel nodded to the defendant table.

"No more questions." Anderson glance towards to opposing lawyer who signaled she was done with questions. "I would like to call Jasmine Fenton to the stand."

* * *

"We'll we be getting the verdict today?" Danny whispered to his lawyer, who gave a nod. Nodding as well, the teen shifted his gave at the vibrant redhead who took a seat at the podium. Danny did everything in his power to push down the anger and distress welling under his skin, but the sadistic smile the Psychologist flashed him told him he wasn't doing well.

"Ms. Spectra, can you please tell be about your clinical idea of Mr. Fenton based on his records?" Fredrick asked, but the double meaning in her tone and the spark in her eyes gave Danny conformation that something was going to do in his favor.

"As an unbiased opinion, I would say that Daniel is a child suffering from psychotic episodes while also being a compulsive liar." Spectra answered, her grim features were contradicted by the glee in her eyes as she stared straight at the brew of negative emotions before her. "His history has shown instances where he would disappear and once he came back he would lie a web without a second thought. Aside from that, he's classmates had reported seeing him speaking to, or 'fighting' with a seemingly invisible force."

"So, would you say the teen's words are unreliable."

"Very much so." Spectra nodded, before he next words came out she flashed a dark smile at the distressed teen. She could feel the surge of emotions that came from it, and she was rolling in her power. "It may also be smart to mention how the teen seems to believe that he is the ghostly hero of the town, Phantom."

Instantly Daniel tensed even more if that was possible, his mind clouded with anxiety and an intense sense of dread. Was it Spectra who was going to out him? He turned his gaze on the older man in the table aside of his, his eyes were met with a dark smirk from the man who was already staring at him. Suddenly it was getting harder to breathe.

"-Video of the teen acting as if he were the hero."

Did she just say video? Video of what exactly? It couldn't be good in any sense of the word. The panicking teen looked over his shoulder in hopes to see a relaxed and reassuring sister... Not what he saw. The disquietude quadruple at the sight of a panic looking sister. He needed to breath, he needed to get out of this. He turned his bleary and shifting eyes to Anderson who had a locked jaw and hard eyes.

Anderson could help. But Danny's mouth felt intensely dry, he wouldn't be able to speak even if he tried. Reaching out a shaking hand, Danny winced at the black dots running through his vision. Not enough oxygen, that much was clear.

His eyes focused some, trying to read or hear the words that Anderson was mouthing or speaking to him. He needed to focus, but the loud ringing in his ears made it so much harder for him to hear.

"Panic-You-Sir-We-Oxygen-Danie-Slow-S-Oka-" That was all the teen was able to make out before his vision was succumbed in darkness, his mind falling numb...


	14. Chapter 14

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Anderson's eyebrows furrowed, the concern was clear on his faces. The pale and ever so slightly shaky teen gave the older man a small smile.

"Yea..." Danny nodded, looking down at the cup of water before him. His mind reeling to try and explain who was the reason for his fainting spell. He bit his lip, and glanced up. He tensed and pulled in on himself at the sight of Spectra and her minion Bertrand. "It's just..."

"It's Ms. Spectra, isn't it." Anderson was met with a wide eyed teen. The man released a sigh, looking of at the demon-like redhead. "The way you two look at each other, it's like a predator looking at a prey. I'm going to see what I can do to get her removed-"

"You don't have to." Danny cursed himself inside. He didn't want Spectra here, she fed on his emotions which made him worse, but he didn't want Anderson to go through the trouble. He's already helped him enough. "I-I can handle it..."

"Danny, you knew she worked for Vlad. That alone shows that something happened between the two of you, and I can tell it wasn't good." The blonde slouched to the teen's level. "I know it's hard handling this with Masters alone, so I'm going to help have Spectra dismissed. "

Daniel didn't know how to the respond to the man's kindness. A man who he didn't even know existed until a few weeks ago. His response was a watery smile, which was returned with a sturdier smile as the agent left to speak with the Judge. Danny curled in on himself, trying everything he could to drown out the soft whispers that sounded like roars. He didn't expect anything else anyway, he was the kid who fainted in the middle of a hearing.

A sigh escaped him, he kept his cobalt eyes on the white tile at his feet. The raven haired teen just couldn't help but be glad to have had Anderson, who had told him everything that he didn't catch in his hazy. Spectra somehow had a video of him acting like Phantom, rather than shifting. That made things a lot easier, he could have been acting for all everyone knew. It couldn't be that hard, right?

* * *

"Any evidence, or testimony that Ms. Penelope Spectra is to be ignored." Judge Montreal addressed before turning to the two lawyers before him. "Mr. Anderson will start."

"I call Tucker Foley to the stand." Danny's head shot up to see his best friend walking to the podium. He felt happy that Tucker decided to show, but he couldn't believe he missed him. How could he not notice this? "Mr. Foley can you tell me about the first time my client, Daniel, came to you about Vlad." Even from his seat, Danny can see the slight tremors running through his friend. Tucker never did fair well under pressure.

"Uhm, he had gotten back from the reunion. I had questioned him what was wrong, I've been his best friend for years, I can tell when something is bothering him, ya know? He didn't tell me at first, but I promised not to tell anyone unless he gave the gr-green light. When he told me, I tried to get him to tell someone just how much of a froot-loop Vlad is." Tucker paused when he caught the dark gaze of the silver haired man. Anderson noticing the small exchange effortlessly blocked the teen's view. Prompting Tucker to go on, said teen swallowed thickly before continuing. "But he didn't want to. I got-get it really, the man had threatened to kill his dad and somehow marry his mum! With all the surveillance Vlad had, Danny was to worried that Vlad would find out if he planned to tell anyone and he would hurt his family."

"What about his parents? Do you remember either of them making a move or noticing what Mr. Masters was doing?"

"No..." Tucker paused, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. "Wait, I know his mum thought something wrong was going on with the man. So they stopped visiting him, but then he became Mayor and he spent more time in Amity Park and..."

"What about Jack Fenton?" Anderson decided to save the kid from having to finish the sentence. Meanwhile, Danny was dumbstruck by how well his friend was lying... Well partially lying.

"He can be a little slow when it came to things like that..." Tucker gave a nervous chuckle. wishing nothing more than to have his PDA which sat in Jazz's lap out of the techno geeks reach. "He still thought Vlad for being his best bud from College."

"So would you say that Vlad Masters didn't only seem psychologically and physically capable of harming the Fenton family, but he also was able to manipulate people?" His answer was a jerky nod from the antsy teen who sat at the stand. Anderson bit back a sigh, he wasn't going to drain the kid before the shark of a defense attorney got to him. "No further questions." Anderson nodded, taking a seat at his table next to the still fidgeting Danny.

* * *

"Thanks for coming." Danny smiled at his two friends. "I wasn't sure if you were going to..." The teen gave a nervous smile and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Of course we were coming!" Chris shook his head in mock disbelief. The blonde beside him chuckled softly. "What kind of friends do you think we are!" The teen exaggerated his point by placing a hand over his heart. The smirk playing on his lips dismissed any notion of actual hurt. The purple haired teen's smirk only grew at his friends laugh.

"So, how'd you think it went?" Danny questioned, glancing between the two of his friends. He kept his knees pressed to his chest, and bit his lip. He wasn't hopeful about the whole thing. Vlad had power and influence, knowing him he would have somehow paid off the jury.

"I think it looks great actually." Dash spoke, taking his seat on one side of Danny while Chris took the other. Although a bench was seated not even five feet away from the trio, they had chosen to join their distraught friend on the floor. "Masters lawyer didn't have a case against you. You've got this in the bag."

"Yea Dash is right. That lawyer of his is just grasping at straws, theirs no way you'll be losing." Chris agreed with the jock, giving Danny a smile. "Besides, even if the prick paid any Jury people to vote in his favor no one will do that, not after the panic attack you had in there."

A grim silence filtered between the two, all of them sat against the wall. Daniel was hugging his knees, with his chin resting between them. Dash sat with one leg bent and the other stretched out. While Chris sat with his feet pressed together, leaving an opening between his legs. The trio sat and waited, waited for the case to be called in and for the verdict to be told.

"Danny!" The teen jumped, his cobalt eyes landed on a panicked Jazz running towards them. Her aqua eyes wide, swimming in tears while she panted, stopping in front of the three. "Danny, it's dad. We have to get to the hospital!"

Danny froze, his mind swimming in possibilities. He couldn't just leave could he? But he had to go, he had to see how his dad was doing... But the verdict. The pressure started to build on his chest, but all he could do was stare at his fraught sister. The feeling of a hand on his shoulder snapped him from his panic. He turned quickly to be met with Dash's slightly worried blue eyes.

"We'll call and tell you the verdict, you should go"

* * *

"Mum?" Jazz questioned, walking up to her crying mother. Danny lagged a few steps behind, a familiar sense of dread and trepidation growing inside him, wrapping tightly around his throat. His eyes flashed to his father's room... Or what was his father's room. The bed was bare, any sigh of anyone having occupied the room was now gone. The tears began to slide down his cheeks before he came to the full conclusion.

"He's gone." Danny stated, knowing immediately that it was true. "Dad... He's dead?" The harsh sob his mother gave told the siblings what they needed to know. Jazz acted first, pulling her mum into a tight hug, letting her cry into her shoulders. But Danny stood frozen, his whole body felt like it was just drenched into an ice cold bath. He felt numb, but he felt so much at the same time.

"-Your fault!" Danny looked wide eyed and crying at his angry mother. Her leaking eyes trained on him, anger flaring them. Just hearing the two words from her, he knew what she thought. He couldn't agree more, he knew he was at fault. He deserved the anger and hatred from her.

"Mum, wait-"

"No Jazz!" Maddie cut her daughter off, moving towards her trembling son. "It's all your fault! If you had just-If you had just done something before none of this would be happening! Your father would still be here, we would still be living in OUR home. This-This is all on you." Her words got colder the more she spoke, they dug deep into Daniel. Even if he felt that way, it hurt more than any wound hes gotten to hear his own mother say them.

"No!" Jazz got between the two, everyone seemingly forgetting about everyone else in the hospital. Everyone who stood or sat around watching the exchange with various emotions. "This isn't Danny's fault! This is-"

"She's right." Daniel's soft whisper shocked his sister into silence, but seemed to please his mother. "Mum's right, this is all my fault." He chocked out, the tears clouded his vision as he turned and booked it out of the room. He didn't want to see his mother's rightfully hateful glares, or his sister's pity looks. The pressure on his chest increased by ten folds, making it harder for him to breath.

All he knew was that he needed to get away from all of this.

* * *

 _"Dude you won! Masters got 25 years!"_

Danny's blurry eyes stared down at the sentence on his phone. Those word did nothing to appease the pressure, or the guilt inside him. If anything it all increased, he figured getting Vlad out of the situation would make everything so much better, but it didn't. Everything hurt, everything was falling apart and there was nothing he could do.

A choked sob escaped him, he tossed his phone roughly onto the cement of the roof he found himself on. His eyes found the large billboard that sat in front of him. Confusion and paranoia raced through him when it shut off. The electronic billboards were always up, so why would this one suddenly shut off? Nonetheless his questions and worries were answered and confirmed when the face of a certain silver haired halfa found itself on screen.

" _Hello everyone of Amity Park, this is your Mayor. The same Mayor who had just been wrongly convicted of child abuse if you are watching this. I had hoped all this could have passed over without the need to reveal young Daniel Fenton's secret. A secret he had thrown his own godfather under the bus to protect. A secret he in trusted me with for some time. I had hope little badger would have came to his senses and retract his false statement so I wouldn't have to go to such extreme measures to clear my now tarnished name..."_

Danny's vision focused instantly, fear curling through him. The alarm raced through his veins, his mind going to the only thing he could think Vlad would do with his. Vlad was going to expose him...

 _"Many of you may not believe my words, and so I had decided to display for all of you video evidence to support this. Very well, for all of Amity Park to know, Our resident Daniel Fenton is also our resident hero Danny Phantom. He had gathered his injuries doing nothing more than protecting this town, he did not want you to know of this, and so Daniel had put the blame on me. I can see how this is hard to grasp, and so here is the proof."_

From his perch on the roof, Danny could hear the out roar below him as the video of his transformation played on loop. The very transformation he had been forced to do by Vlad well before any of this occurred. Danny should have expected Vlad to have insurance, should have expected things to never be easy for him. His head snapped up, eyes trained on the white hover craft heading his way. They GIW already tracked his ecto-signature. They were getting better.

Swallowing down the fury of emotions running through him, Danny knew one thing for sure. He needed to get out of Amity Park.

* * *

 **AN: I'm so happy a few of you liked the direction I took the last chapter.**

 **I hope you guys like how this one turned out, I'm a bit iffy on keeping it the way it is, but I haven't changed any chapter after typing it so I decided to go for it.**

 **I don't have much to say, so let me know what you all thought in the Reviews!**


	15. Chapter 15

273\. Two Hundred and Seventy Three miles. That's how long he was able to fly before he found himself crashing back to earth. He kept his exhausted and bruised body in the small crate in the earth. His fall was anything but graceful, but luckily his wounds were already healing. Something he couldn't say about the bleeding gash on his leg. It was worth it, he didn't need the GIW knowing where he went. He's never been so glad to have mastered cloning until now.

Sometimes Danny just didn't know what to do. He thought everything was going to get better but it wasn't. Nothing was looking up for him. The fatigued teen pulled himself out the crater, sighing at the realization that he had shifted without meaning to. He needed to find a place to rest, he was to hurt and tired to be able to pull his ghost form back out. A groan escaped him when he concluded that he would have to walk.

A loud grumble filled the soft woodland air, Danny's eyes shifted quickly through the trees when a blush dusted over his cheeks. A sigh left the teen as he patted his stomach, looking around for any idea where he was. _Missouri._ He flew all the way to Missouri. Danny shook his head, walking off towards the _Welcome to Missouri_ sign for a hope to find food.

Regardless, Missouri was better than anywhere in Illinois and Wisconsin.

* * *

A relief filled smile slide onto Danny's lips at the sight of a small cafe, the darkness of the time made it clear that the time of night would leave the area for the most part. The teen glanced down at his leg, the jean around the gash that was in the process of coagulating. Danny was glad he chose black jeans that morning the blood soaking the material was hard to notice unless you were looking for it.

He tugged the hood of his dark red hoodie over his dead, his hands slipping into his pockets, his legs carrying him towards the entrance a crossed the road. He clenched the wad of cash stuffed inside it, a small smile slid on his face. He remembered when Sam had chastised him for even making a ready-to-go bag in case the GIW ever found out his secret and he needed to run, much like now. Tucker had been for the idea, he knew the risk and the fifty-fifty that everything would turn out okay if he's secret got released.

He had kept a small plain black school bag filled with necessities in case he ever needed to run. It was mostly clothes and money. Danny knew if he hid any food in there, the rats in the walls would have probably gotten to it or the food would have expired.

Danny stepped into the cafe, surviving the area. Two men sat together in one booth, three people sat at the counter, one female, one male, and his daughter. Shifting his was he sat in the corner of the cafe, away from the the other occupants. Taking his seat, he reached over and opened the menu sat already at the booth. He couldn't get anything to expensive, he had to keep his cost as low as he could.

"Hey sweetheart, I'll be your waitress for tonight. I'm Jess, what can I get you?" A bubbly blonde greeted him. She had blonde curls that rested lightly around her face, her green eyes stared at him kindly, she wore plan black jeans with a white polo, and a pouch tied to her waist. She rested both her hands on her hips, tilting her head slightly and gave the disheveled teen a smile.

"I'll have the bacon burger with a side of tatter tots. Also a tropical twist" Danny answered, slipping his hood from his head. She gave him a smile and headed off. The teen slouched in hid seat, tuning in to see what everyone was talking about.

 _"Nah, look the buck was a good kill! Wasn't even that earthy either."_

 _"Dude, the thing was alive well after the shot!"_

Danny smiled and shook his head at the presumably brothers arguing about an animal they hunted.

 _"Dad can we get pie?"_

 _"It's like midnight, you don't need that sugar high."_

 _"I'm seventeen! I'll be fine... I could always by it myself..."_

 _"Ugh fine, this is you B-Day midnight 'snack'.'_

A sad sense of nostalgia filled him at the sound of the father/daughter conversation. The daughter reminded him a lot of his dad, and the father much like his mother. His dad that he...

"Here ya go." Jess laid out his burger and drink. His eyebrows furrowed when a slice of apple pie was placed next to the pie, his questioning gaze was met with a pleased grin. "Well, you've kept my cousin safe, so I figured I owe you one." Danny's eyes widen in shock.

"You know me?" Danny questioned as the blonde placed herself across from him.

"Of course I do! Don't worry I'm not with those assholes parading around in white." Jess held her hand in defense. "Chris has been keeping me updated on everything. When he told me to keep on eye out for you, I never would have thought you'd drop down in this lousy diner." She waved her hand in the direction of the diner, which now only had one person in it. Danny mentally chastised himself for not realizing the diner was almost empty.

"Wait... Chris?"

"Yup, He's my baby bro. You know it was great to hear about the kid that somehow became friends with his train wreck of a person." She shook her head, the smile that spread on her face gave away her fondness of the teen. "Hey, I promised him if you popped by that I would help you out. So, you are coming home with me and I'll be giving your fugitive ass a bed to sleep in."

Daniel blinked, eyes wide at the woman before him. His mind running a mile a minute. Somehow he had been lucky to enough to stumble upon his friends sister... But how could he be so sure? So sure that she was the sister and not come lying GIW agent?

"No, nope. Don't even think about it." Jess shook her head, plopping her phone in front of the paranoid teen. "I will call Chris right now. There is no arguments. I'd rather not have him out for my head because I didn't help his friend out."

"Okay." Danny swallowed, ignoring his paranoia for a moment. Releasing a breath, Danny gave her a small, shaky smile. "If we talk to Chris, then I'll go. But I'm paying, even for the pie, and a great tip."

"That's what I want to hear." Jess grinned, sliding her phone over to Danny. Danny's eyes landed on a contact named "D. Darko", he would have been confused if it weren't for the photo of a certain purple haired teen standing next to the hyper blonde before him. Danny couldn't stop the smile, hope rising in him.

Looks like he wasn't sleeping in the gutter tonight.

* * *

"How did two siblings turn out like polar opposites?" Danny questioned, taking a drink of the soda she handed him. There was a small pause, before Danny shook his head. "Never mind, look at my sister and I." The two laughed as Jess sat down next to him.

"Your sister's Jazz right?" Jess asked, receiving a nod. A laugh left her and she shook her head. "Can you believe when my bro first started there that she tried to be his 'therapist' for her senior project? I couldn't believe it when he told me about it."

"Sounds like Jazz" Danny chuckled, looking around the room. "She's going to Princeton or MIT for psychology. She uses her psycho-babble on me a ton"

"Must have been a hoot." Jess smirked, sipping on her drink. "You'd sleep in the guest room, that's were Chris normal stays when he visits."

"Awesome. You don't even realize how much this means to me." Danny smiled. Jess paused for a moment before moving to speak. But she didn't even get one word out. Instead a loud, and slightly haisty, knock rang through the room causing the duo to jump. The two shared a look before Jess stood slowly, motioning to for Danny to stay still and on the couch. She walked towards the door, cursing that she never but in a peep hole. Taking a deep breath, Jess pulled the door open. Her mouth dropped open and eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"What the hell are you doing here!"

* * *

 **AN: Okay, but like I had been planning to post this chapter literally the night after the last chapter... didn't go as plan.**

 **I had soooooooooooo much freaking trouble typing this chapter out. I don't like it, but I won't be able to rewrite it so here you all go.**

 **I guess this is more of a filler chapter more than anything, but I couldn't really type much so I hope this is enough for you all.**

 **Let me know what you guys thought of the chapter!**


	16. Chapter 16

**_"What the hell are you doing here!"_**

"Guys?" Danny jumped from his seat at the sight of three teen boys pushing there way into the room. Instantly Tucker had wrapped Danny up in a hug. "How did you Didn't we just tell you guys a like two hours ago?"

"Might have taken something from Fenton Works..." Tucker trailed, waving a set of keys in front of Danny. The keys were attached a key charm, which was a green and black FSS. Danny instantly knew what it was.

"Dude, how'd you guys get it past the agents that had been swarming there?" Danny gaze across to Dash and Chris who just shrugged.

"Foley did it all on his own. Nerd thought he could get it." Dash motioned towards Tucker. "Got it all on his own"

"Hey, he didn't do that great." Chris piped in as Jess ushered everyone to the couch. Chris gave Tucker a playful shove. "The geek cheated! He used the shrinking thing? I don't even know." Tucker laughed and shook his head. Stealing the drink that Danny had.

"I used the shrinking mechanism your parents had worked on." Tucker took a drink and immediately spit it back into the mug. His face contorted in a grimace, his nose crinkled in disgust. "Ew dude, Dr. Pepper?"

"Oh hush." Jess jumped in, taking the mug from the techno geek. "Dr. Pepper is the best drink that was ever made. Luckily for you I've got some root beer." Jess chuckled at the grin that spread on Tucker's face and left to get him a new drink.

"Why did you guys-"

"Come on fentard." Dash cut in and shook his head, Chris copying his movements. "We weren't about to let you do this all on your own. Especial after finding out you've helped us."

"Dude it's me, I can't stay out of trouble." Chris smirked, keeping his perch against the coffee table. Danny furrowed his eyebrows looking at them all.

"You're willing to be come fugitives for me?" He asked, confusion and disbelief clear in his voice. Jess had sauntered back in and handed the new trio a mug each.

"Of course we are!" Tucker shoved his friend. "You're our friend! It doesn't even matter that you protected Amity-"

"Matters to me." Jess chimed in, sipping from her mug. The looks three out of four of the teens gave her caused her to shrug. "I mean I don't know him. Just that he kept my baby bro safe as Phantom, that makes him okay in my books."

"How's everyone?" Danny asked, biting the inside of his cheek. Anxiety filled him with worry of what could really happen back home, back in Amity Park.

"Your sister and mum are alright..." Tucker started taking a glance between the other two. Danny bit back a sigh at the exchange, a spike of annoyance hit him realizing his friends were acting like they were walking on egg shells.

"Guys, just tell me everything." Danny cut in, shaking his head. In that moment Danny realized something. Since he met Jess, since he show'd up the little diner, he had not been overwhelmed by emotions.

"Okay, Imma be blunt. Cause unlike Tuck over there, I know you need to know the truth." Chris perked up from his perch, ignoring the looks he got. "Your dad's funeral is tomorrow afternoon, your mum is an absolute wreck, your sister is playing damage control, Sam wanted to come but her parents are keeping her hostage in her room, and Lancer tried to get us to tell him where you are. Amity is also surrounded in people in white and they are thinking about expanding to neighboring states, including this one. If you have a plan now if the time."

"I need to go to his funeral." Danny spoke, his voice only holding the tiniest bit of sadness in it.

"There's always Clockwork." Tucker spoke, turning his gaze to Danny choosing to ignore the words his friend spoke. His eyes searching Danny for any form of emotions. His worry grew when all he saw was emptiness.

"Whose Clockwork?"Dash and Jess asked the same time, the two shared a smile between them. Tucker and Danny shared a look, the emptiness in Danny's eyes suddenly disappearing as if it weren't ever there. Tucker bit his tongue, knowing it would be a bad time to start asking Danny , sometimes he could be an airhead and say the wrong things at the worst times possible, he still has some brains to know Danny is going through too much hell to have his only support to start questioning.

"Well..." Danny spoke before Tucker could. Turning to the three confused people in the room. He launched into the story about how he had met Clockwork, and how the elder ghost now kept his eye on the teen and help occasionally, then told them all about the offer the ghost gave him.

* * *

"Do you have any idea when Clockwork is gonna pop by?" Chris asked, walking into the room and taking a seat next to Danny. It's been a few hours since the five of them had a conversation, and everyone litered out around the house. Tucker was spending time trying to find the location of the GIW without alerting anyone where they were. Dash was somewhere else in the house, or maybe he left. Jess was out buy groceries, she had complained about now having to stock the house up for four teenage boys now.

"No clue." Danny sighed and shook his head, keeping his chin rested on his knees. "I just hope he does soon... I need to go to my dad's funeral though. I just... I can't miss it-"

"I get it." Chris cut in before Danny could continue, not wanting to force the boy to have to explain himself. Chris turned, keeping his eyes on the teen before him, his eyes only meeting the side of his face but the purple haired teen could see the tears in the sad cobalt eyes. "I do. Maybe you could. I honestly don't know much about the GIW, and if they can't track you then maybe if we get a disguise you can keep to the edge of the funeral? Keep away from people?"

"They can track my ecto-signature. I can only hide it for so long." Danny responded. "I don't think I could face my mum though. She hates me."

"I wish I could say she didn't. " Chris ran a hand through his hair, hating seeing his friend so distraught. "But she is your mum. She could just have said those things in the heat of the moment..."

"I don't know." Danny shook his head, try to rid the heavy hands that wrapped tightly around his throat. Everything was a dire situation, he couldn't have a breakdown. He took and deep breath before turning to his friend. "We need to talk to the others and see if we can come up with a plan to get me to Amity tomorrow, at what time did you say?"

"Two"

* * *

Danny could help the feeling in him that night while he laid in bed. He couldn't believe how easy it was to get Dash, and Tucker, heck even Jess to agree to him going. He felt bad, but he was happy Sam wasn't there. As much as he liked having he around and he missed her, he knew she would have told him not to do this. That it was stupid and he should stay in hiding until the Stopwatch popped his back into his life.

But Danny couldn't. He had to see this. He didn't know why, or if it would help any, but he had to see this. He had to go and see his mum and sister, his dad in the casket. He had to see everything. Even if the thought of the funeral, or returning to Amity, gave the hand that help tightly at his throat more force to grip tighter. He needed this.

Something was drawing him to the funeral. The feeling reminded him a lot like the thing that kept waking him up around the time his dad had... Besides the connection, there was something else. Danny couldn't quite put his finger on, but he knew damn well that if he didn't go he was going to miss something. Something big. Something he didn't want to miss.

And he wasn't going to.

With the thought of going to that funeral, and seeing his family, the emotional teen drifted off to sleep. Not bothering to stay up longer, or keep an eye out for anything. Even though he knew he was being hunted down by people who wanted nothing more than to cut him open and do 'really painful experiments', Danny had the strangest feeling that tonight was going to be just fine.

The growing dread that built as time ticked by was the only indecation that tomorrow was when things were going to go down. That things weren't going to be as easy as running into Jess, or having his friends by his side. No, things weren't going to be easy. But the raven haired teen knew one thing.

His friends would have his back no matter what. They will be there to catch him, if or when he fell.

* * *

 **AN:Short chapter, but I like the ending. Not so much the starting.**

 **This chapter was so difficult to write because I didn't know how to start it. All I knew was how it was going to end, but the start was so fucking difficult. But I got it done, so YAY!  
**

 **I like to see that Jess wasn't a complete flop, and people don't hate my OCs. I hadn't planned for any of this really, so the OCs pop in when I feel like they are needed. I aim to not have any of them become overpower characters, so they shouldn't in the future. Mostly just there to help Danny through the plot.**

 **If you haven't realized already...I don't like Sam. I'm sorry to all you Sam lovers and Sam/Danny lovers, but that's not gonna be here. I can't tell you exactly why I dislike her so much, but I just do. I also don't think her and Danny are anywhere near a good pairing so I don't write them as one. I kinda channeled my dislike through Danny a bit if you can see that.**

 **Anyways, it's midnight and I really have homework I should try and get done before my teachers start blowing up my phone with messages about not turning in any work this week. (Only down fall of online school) So**

 **Let me know what you all thought about this chapter, your fave moments and what you hate the most. Anything will do.**

 **Night my dudes!**


	17. Chapter 17

Danny took a deep breath, pulling on the too long sleeves of his over-sized black hoodie. He could feel the strain on himself with the force he was putting onto his ghost power and core. But he didn't let up, instead he pushed more. He couldn't risk a slip up, the GIW will not know he is here. No one will and everything would be okay.

"You look great." Jess offered, tapping away at her phone. "If only Chris wasn't such a fat-ass." Jess shot him a wink before a Chris spoke up in protest.

"Hey! Those are old." The purple haired teen pouted, keeping his face straight even when a pillow hit the side of his face. Danny gave a small smile, looking around the room. His eyes landed on the clock with wide eyes. He needed to get going.

"It's been fifteen minute into the funeral." Danny tugged on the sleeves of the hoodie. "Has Tucker texted you yet?"

"Nope, Dash did tell me his parents are keeping him locked at home. Something about-" A chirp cut off his sentence. Immediately, Chris jumped to check his phone, a smile filled his features. His head jolted upwards, giving the other teen a grin. Relief and happiness clear on him. "Tucker says your mum chewed out all the agents that were in the area. It's clear for you."

"The power of a mama bear." Jess mused, taking a swing from a solid black plastic bottle. The moment the lid was opened, Danny's no crinkled at the smell that come out of it. At the sight of the stare Danny gave her, she turned the bottle towards him. "How rude of me, want some?"

"Seems like rubbing alcohol." Danny shook his head, rubbing at his nose. Jess eyebrows jolted upwards while Chris's face took on a curious look. Danny, however, didn't notice as he busied him self with his bag.

"You didn't tell me you had super senses!" Jess gawked, looking over at Danny then to the purple haired teen. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't even know!" Chris shook his head, before something dawned on him. "Wait, did you trust my sister cause you could hear her heartbeat?"

"No" Danny shook his head with a laugh, forgetting about what it was he was getting ready for. "It's not that strong. I can just pick things up better than other people." Danny shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well boys." Jess cut in, wrapping her arms around the shoulders of both teens. "We got something to get too"

* * *

His heart pounded in his chest, he felt the tears pricking at the back of his eyes. He was an outsider looking into his own father's funeral. Danny tugged the hoodie further down his face, keeping at the tree line. He knew if someone noticed him he would look suspicious but with his mum out there, he couldn't risking getting caught.

"Hey" Danny jumped, looking over to find none other than Lancer. Fear filled him as he met eyes with his teacher. The small greeting smile the older man had slipped at the look on Daniel's face. "Gulliver's Travels Daniel! I'm not going to tell anyone your here. Quite frankly, it's a good thing your here. You shouldn't miss this."

"Thanks." Danny offered a small smile before turning back to look at this sister holding his crying mother. "Do you know if..."

"You're mother feels horrible." Lancer mused, keeping his eyes trained forward. "She had come to me about if I knew where to find you. I was certain Mr. Foley and company would have found you." He shot Danny a pointed look before looking forward again.

"Yea, it was by chance actually." Danny shrugged, he heard someone mention Lancer and glances around the area. "You should get back over there." Lancer paused for a moment, making a move to speak before giving a nod and walking off.

The sting of tears that Danny was able to ignore, in the presence of his teacher, came back stronger. His eyes stayed on the open casket, from his spot he couldn't see his dad... but the crowd was moving away from it, it could give him the opportunity to...

Before Daniel could stop himself he found himself already make is way towards the casket. A choked sound croaked at the back of his throat at the sight of his father laying in the coffin. A tear slide down his cheek, he couldn't believe how alive Jack looked. His face full of color, his face set in a peaceful slumber. His mind supplied that his dad would just wake up and all will go back to normal... but he knew it wasn't true.

His dad was dead because of something stupid he did, he wasn't going to come back. His mum was going to hate him, everyone knew all about him... things weren't going to ever go back to normal. Warm tears slide down his pale cheeks as he gripped his dad's hand... he was warm. Danny bit the inside of his cheek to stop any noises from escaping him.

He knew the reason Jack felt as warm as he was, was because Danny was an ice cube. Even with his core pushed down, he was still cold. The warm seeping from his father only seemed to taunt him more. He only fueled the part of him that kept yelling at him that his dad was alive and he was going to wake up. A shaking hand wiped at his eyes, the tears didn't stop however.

The guilt and shame weighed heavy on him, his body trembling from the overwhelming emotions. He couldn't believe when all this took a downward spiral. Was is when Vlad sent out the video? Was it when Spectra went to court? Was is when he called out Vlad? Was it when he lied to Lancer? Or was all this the endpoint of him becoming Phantom? All this time, was he putting his family at risk? He is the common-

"Danny?!" Danny jumped, turning to meet the gaze of his mum. Tears stained both their cheeks. Danny's heart clenched painfully at the look on her face... betrayal, regret, pain, guilt, love. "Danny baby, I'm so-"

"Freeze ghost scum!"

Fear flooded everyone's face, as a swarm of agents in white surrounded them. Realization dawned on him at the four agents dressed in black suits, the assholes hid agents. Anger shrouded through him, they were willing enough to invade his father's funeral. Something that was supposed to give everyone piece of mind. The loud beeping the filled the air caused the agents to raise their weapons, aiming it at the halfa. Ecto-energy buzzed through the air, rolling off of the emotional teen. A bright light enveloped the teen, once dissipating leaving behind none other then Phantom.

"I'm sorry" Danny choked out to the people around, all of them held bewildered looks. His voice filled with anger, shame, guilt, sadness, portraying everything he felt at that moment.

"Get on your knees, scum." One of the agents in black hissed, but Danny only stared at them. His eyes glowed an intense verdant, the tension in the room grew. His lips pulled into a tight line, the words that escaped his mum drowned out by him emotions. He moved to speak, but he didn't get the chance. A blast sounded, a ball of pink sphere made it's way to him.

Time seemed to slow, Danny's eyes widened as he felt the heat radiating as he got closer. He didn't have a chance to move. A scream sounded behind him, but he couldn't pull his eyes away from the gun. His eyes slid close, he knew he couldn't make it out of the way in time...

"Time Out!"

Danny gasped, the familiar feeling of the weight of the medallion falling onto his shoulders. His eyes focused on a familiar blue specter in a purple cloak. A laughable sense of disbelief filled him, a breathy laugh slid past his lips.

"I should have expected this from you, Stopwatch." Danny grumbled, moving from in front of the ball of pink. He flashed the ecto-ball a stink eye before turning to face the older ghost. "What are you-Wait is this because of..."

"Yes Daniel, do you have an answer?" Clockwork questioned, his postured stayed relax as he stayed in his middle aged form.

"What would happen?" Daniel asked, a sad look in his eyes as he took in the view around him. The agents surrounded everyone, his eyes hardened at the view of his friends being held back by agents. Chris, Dash, Tucker, and Jazz were all being held back by agents in white, Jazz held onto one of their shoulders, her legs frozen mid kick, tears stained her cheeks. "Would no one remember this?"

"It's up to you, Daniel." Clockwork turned, his eyes trained on the scene before him. "You could have your group, what do you like to call them 'Team Phantom', remember, or no one. I give you free reign here."

Danny took a deep breath, running a hand through his stark white hair. He kept his eyes trained on the people who mattered. Chris. Dash. Tucker. Jazz. Jess. Lancer. Maddie. He couldn't let all of them remember this. Go through all this. He, honestly, didn't want to remember any of this. The feeling of his dad, the court trial, when his mum hated him. But he knew he had too. He need to prevent all of this.

"Okay... Yea." Danny sighed, turning to look at the specter, who had a small smile on his lips. "But here's how we're doing this."

* * *

 **AN: And it had been done. Danny took up the offer, all will be right again. or will it?**

 **You'll all find out in the next chapter, which will be most likely the last chapter. I can't wait to start typing it out, but i probably won't have the chapter out until no later than Saturday, hopefully.**

 **Let me know what you all thought about the chapter, did you hate it, or did you love it? Let me know. Until next time.**


	18. Chapter 18

Danny suddenly awoke the feel of someone shoving him slightly. Holding back a wince, the teen looked to notice Sam was motioning her head to the teacher who had paused his reading to give the drowsy teen an unamused glare. A sense of deja vu filled Danny as he looked up at the teacher. The memory of everything that had happened returned to him. He bit back a grin that threatened to stretch across his lips. This would be so much harder if he hadn't told Clockwork to have him be the only to remember. He has a whole new chance to play things out the right way, he wasn't going to mess up.

He moved a hand to rub his eye, ignoring the sharp pain from his ribs. He stifled a yawn, annoyance filled him. Clockwork couldn't let him feel better, could he? He still felt exhausted, and as sore and in pain as it was when he first went through all this.

"...Am I understood?" Danny jolted from his daydream returning his focus to the teacher. He almost nodded with a smile, when he remember the whole situation. He breathed softly, he still needed to keep things going this route. He'll shift things after Lancer asked him to stay back and talk. He couldn't mess everything up, he needed to be careful.

"Uh yea, Mr. Lancer." Danny answered, shifting his gaze to the desk that laid in front of him. He kept his face straight, but he couldn't stop the giddy feeling that he was going to see his parents. Everything was going to be fine this time. His dad would be alive.

"This is the fifth time I have caught you dozing off in my class Mr. Fenton. I have warned you time and time again, and yet it still occurs. I would like to see you after class." Lancer spoke again, not waiting for a reply from the teen as he continued his reading.

Danny sighed and ran a hand down his face, trying to ignore the sniggering that was taking place behind him. Even if he's gone through all this before, it doesn't make it any less annoying. Especially since all his injures are back, and the throbbing that radiated through him didn't help. Sam and Tucker turned, eyes filled with concern, only to be met with a mouthed "Later". Danny rested his chin on his hand, he was exhausted. He knew he wasn't as tired as the first time, he had a small spike of adrenaline from the whole thing. But even that was wearing out already.

His heart hammered at the thought of what was going to happen. He gets to see his family again, he can befriend Chris... Even Dash. Things could look up. After everything from the last few weeks... well not really weeks anymore, but everything he's gone through kept this hope in him. He figured regardless of what he did, it couldn't be worse than what happened. He suppressed the shiver that threatened to run down his back at the memory of what happened and...

A winced slipped past when he shifted in his seat, a gash that he had completely forgotten about jabbed into the desk. He bit his lip and pulled the sleeves over his hands. He mentally laughed at the shirt, and here he thought the hoodie he borrowed from Chris was too big. He smiled softly, he needed to remember to create the friendship again, same with Dash. The two of them were there when he needed them, even if they don't remember. The shrill bell rang loudly, causing Danny to jump and curse when his knee slammed on the desk. He let it happen again, he shook his head. He needed to remember things like this.

"What happened last night?" Sam whispered, using the noise of teens filtering out of the classroom as a cover for the talk. Danny squashed the small annoyance that bubbled in him at the memory of how Sam had handled the whole situation. "You look like hell! You are taking tonight off."

"I know, Sam." Daniel sighed, running a hand through his mess black hair. Pulling from his memories about that night. Couldn't Clockwork have given him a refresher? "I ran into Spectra, and then Technus, then, uh, Walker, and Skulker came at me with some upgrades. That's not counting the amount of times the box ghost and ectopusses popped up. God, then my parents showed up... And my freaking healing is being delayed!"

"Damn dude." Tucker winced. "You should have called us."

"You guys needed your rest." Danny responded, shaking his head. "Besides, now you get stuck on Ghost duties." That elicited a groan from the other two teens, even if they smiled slightly. Danny bit back a grin, instead giving a small smile. He missed the lightheartedness between the three that had disappeared. When his two friends paused at the door and looked at him concerned, he gave them a reassuring smile. This wasn't going to be too hard, he has been thinking about things to say during the lecture. Daniel saw the relief that flooded through the two teens, he felt relief himself that he calmed them down.

There was silence. Daniel stood there, trying to ease the pressure and digging the bag added to his already bruised shoulder, he made a mental note to talk to Clockwork about this. Maybe he should have added that part when he came up with the terms. While Lancer moved to take a seat at his desk. Danny tried to ignore the deja vu that rang through him, this was weird, but he's going to be fixing things, things will be better. He watched as Lancer reached into the right bottom draw of his desk and placed a decent sized folder onto the desk in front of him. Danny tried to push down the beating of his heart and the intense anxiety that was growing. He knew what to expect but still he felt what he felt the first time. Lancer flipped through the pages a few times, before he released a sigh, and closed the folder. Folding his hands on top of the closed folder, he turned his gaze to the nervous teen before him. The hard look in his eyes softened.

"Daniel, if this was a simple rare occasion, then your teachers and I can ignore it. However, this is the fifth time this week and we cannot ignore it." Lancer started, his tone a lot softer and concerned than the one he used in front of the class. Daniel still felt that flutter that someone other than his two friends cared... No, that's not true. Other people cared. He learned that. Lancer's voice broke through his thoughts. " As your teachers, we do care about your well-being. I don't want you to feel like you can't come and talk to me about anything."

"Thank you Mr. Lancer. Really" Danny spoke, keeping his anxiety from his voice, but the tiredness that weighed on him still sat. "But I'm okay, I've just been having trouble sleeping. Nothing this weekend can't fix." Danny recited from before. He tried to bit down on the growing emotions, knowing he shouldn't lose his cool. He remembered what happened the last time that happened...

"Listen Danny. I have been teaching you for a while. I have noticed the drastic changes you've gone through in a short time. For one, you completely changed your usual outfit, and for a long sleeve on a hot day like this. My job involves character analysis every day, I notice things. I know a lot of students view me as the boring, lame English teacher, but I do catch more than one would thing. Answer me this, truthfully. Don't be scared or frightened. Are you being abused at home?"

Immediately the tension in the room enhanced, Daniel's hands began to sweat and his mouth became as dry as the Sahara Desert. Fear and panic increased his pulse, he could feel his heart thumping against his rib cage, and the blood rushing through him. He mentally cursed himself, he was expected this he can do this. Danny took a deep breath, you can handle this. It's Lancer, nothing to panic over. Even though he knew he could fix this, the weight of what could happened held heavy on his shoulders. The thought only increased the fear of messing everything up.

"It isn't hard to notice that you are currently malnourished, Daniel." Lancer continued when the teen didn't speak. Danny chastised himself, he needed to focus and cut in when he got the chance. "You haven't been sleeping well and I have noticed the bruises, the limps, the flinches, and winces. I also know you Danny, and I know you're lying to me. I'm not mad or upset with you for lying. But can you tell me the truth?"

"Okay" Danny breathed out his reply, eyes falling to his red sneakers. He missed the surprised look that flashed across Lancer's features. Almost as if the teacher hadn't expected for Danny to give in that quickly. "Just promise me... Promise me you won't tell my parents, or anyone for that matter..."

"Daniel, if you're in trouble, I can't just sit aside and-"

"No, it's not like that." Danny shook his head, looking up at Lancer. He bit back the fear and the tears. He already changed things, he's got the ball rolling, all he has to do is keep it that way. "I'm not in any danger... well not any life threatening one. It's just, I... I um" Danny moved a hand to the back of his neck, scratching it nervously. He just needed to breath, he could do this.

"You can tell me, Daniel." Lancer spoke, moving from his seat to stand before the slightly trembling teen. "As long as I believe you're relatively safe, I won't tell anyone. I promise."

"We hunt ghosts." Danny blurted out before he could stop himself, a blush taking on his cheeks at Lancer's shocked and disbelieving look. "We saved Phantom one night, and since then we've been helping out. I mean all the other hunters aren't that great, they spend most of their time trying to catch Phantom when he's the one helping us. So we started helping him out, I mean he is only on ghost he can't be everywhere at once. Just please, don't tell my parents, I-"

"We?" Lancer composed himself, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Uh... Yea, Sam and Tucker." Danny rubbing the back of his neck. He hoped this Lancer is just as relaxed as the other Lancer. He can't be having his parents digging into his ghost hunting now can he? "We don't get hurt that often... It's just the night patrol, but it's better now. We just set up a new system and I shouldn't be falling asleep much anymore or getting bruised. It's not as bad as you might think, really, It's..."

"Great Gatsby Daniel." Lancer shook his head, giving the rambling teen a small, understanding smile. "I understand. I think It's courageous what you and Ms. Manson and Mr. Foley have been up to. As I have promised I won't tell anyone, but under a few conditions." Danny released a breath he didn't even realized he was holding. A relieved smile slide across his face.

"Of course, anything."

"One, keep yourselves healthy. No skipping meals for ghost hunting, or pulling all nighters. Even if you have homework, if your exhausted sleep. No homework is better than sleeping in class." Lancer gave him a pointed look while Danny grinned sheepishly. "Two, if any of you get injured, I want you to come to me. I may just seem like an English teacher but I did study different things. Which leads me to three... Danny, if any of you need someone to talk to. Just talk or if something's stressing you, come to me. I'm here to help, I mean it."

Before Danny could stop himself, he had pulled the older man into a hug, ignoring the throbs and sharp pains that coursed through him from the movement. Lance froze for a moment before giving the teen a ginger hug back. Danny pulled back, a grin on his face. "Expect us to take you up on that."

Lancer gave a smile of his own with a chuckle. Just like Danny, Lancer was just as relieved. He was just glad that this was some reckless teenage thing rather than his initial fear. He would have hated to find out anyone was abusing this bubbly teen.

"Mr. Lancer" Danny called from the classroom, a smile still on his face. Lancer wouldn't understand why all this made the teen happy. He didn't know about all the trauma Danny went through in another time, how what he just said changed everything. He wouldn't understand the teen's gratification. "Thank you."

On his way out of school, even though he felt like he could pass out at any moment, Danny was at the top of the world. He was fixing things, he could have his family together, and there would be no CPS worry. Everything was looking up, unlike the last times he felt like this Danny actually believed it one hundred percent. Now with the hardest part out of the way, all Danny needed to do was befriend Chris and Dash. Shouldn't be to hard, right?

* * *

 **AN:Okay, originally this was going to be the last chapter, I was gonna tie everything up here but I didn't want to chapter to get too long. I knew if I added the Chris and Dash and Sam and Tucker parts, even Danny with his family, I have planned that this chapter was just going to go well past what I would put my limit at so this isn't the last chapter.**

 **I'm sorry for any out-of-character-ness but again I don't know Lancer at all so yup.**

 **I've also been planning out that hug scene this whole story, whoops. I wanted a hug scene between the two of them because I felt like it was much needed. I didn't focus on the relationship between the two of them all that much, and I wanted to give that little inclination that Lancer cared about Danny well before the whole Vlad, and Danny moving in with him thing.**

 **Danny is still slightly pissed at Sam, I mean did you expect that to go away?**

 **On another note, someone (Feurrige) reviewed saying that they bet Maddie told the agents to go undercover. I will not deny or support that idea. I'll leave it out to all of you to how the agents went through with what they did. If you want, let me know your theories in the reviews.**

 **Let me know what all of you guys thought in the reviews! I love reading them and seeing your perspective on things.**


	19. Chapter 19

_"Freeze ghost scum!"_

 _Fear flooded everyone's face, as a swarm of agents in white surrounded them. Realization dawned on him at the four agents dressed in black suits, the assholes hid agents. Anger shrouded through him, they were willing enough to invade his father's funeral. Something that was supposed to give everyone piece of mind. The loud beeping the filled the air caused the agents to raise their weapons, aiming it at the halfa. Ecto-energy buzzed through the air, rolling off of the emotional teen. A bright light enveloped the teen, once dissipating leaving behind none other then Phantom._

 _"I'm sorry" Danny choked out to the people around, all of them held bewildered looks. His voice filled with anger, shame, guilt, sadness, portraying everything he felt at that moment._

 _"Get on your knees, scum." One of the agents in black hissed, but Danny only stared at them. His eyes glowed an intense verdant, the tension in the room grew. His lips pulled into a tight line, the words that escaped his mum drowned out by him emotions. He moved to speak, but he didn't get the chance. A blast sounded, a ball of pink sphere made it's way to him._

 _Time seemed to slow, Danny's eyes widened as he felt the heat radiating as he got closer. He didn't have a chance to move. A scream sounded behind him, but he couldn't pull his eyes away from the gun. His eyes slid close, he knew he couldn't make it out of the way in time. Heat radiated through out his chest, the force caused him to fall to the ground, a loud thump radiated through the air. He heard the scream, but all he saw was the sky._

 _The tears felt cool, this time, as they slid down his cheeks. The pain bursted through him but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the lone cloud in the sky. Not even when he felt hands pulling at him. He barely registered being placed on top of something, or the sticky substance coating his abdomen. He felt at peace, he felt ready. He didn't want to fight, he just... It would be so easy if he just drifted._

 _Something moved into his way, his cobalt eyes slid closed. He didn't want to focus, he didn't want to stay. He wanted to keep feeling this. This peacefulness... But he... why was he crying. The tears slid down his face like an open faucet, he tried to move, tried to brush them away. He needed to show everyone that he wasn't sad, he was okay. He couldn't. With every passing moment he was drifting further and further into the peaceful darkness._

 _"Danny, Please... Danny... Danny... DANNY!"_

 _Danny tried to say something, anything to stop the yelling. He just wanted to sleep, everything hurt. This was a strong pain on his chest, he just wanted to doze it off._

 _"Danny... Danny...DANNY!"_

 _He tried to make a sound but he couldn't. Fear started filling through him. He couldn't breathe. Why didn't he notice that earlier? His hand gripped at his chest, a sharp pain illuminated the area. His hand felt wet._ _consternation grew more, he couldn't breath. He couldn't... Why couldn't he... Everything just blurred together, he couldn't... he couldn't..._

 _ **"DANNY"**_

* * *

The sweaty, raven haired teen jolted from his bed, gasping for air. Confusion clouded through him before his mind finally caught up. He'd gone straight home after school and just slept. Much like last time. A chuckle left him as he looked around his dimly lit room. He feels more energized, his mind still working to catch up that what had happened before this wasn't just a nightmare, but a very possible and real doom.

"Danny?" A voice spoke from behind his door, a soft knock followed it. Danny furrowed his eyebrows before remember exactly what was going on.

"Hey Jazz, you can come in." Danny tried to contain his feelings. When he got home, unlike last time, no one was home. He had just gone straight to bed, well after talking to Sam and Tucker about what had happened with Lancer.

"Danny..." She started, taking a stand in front of Danny. Danny gave her a small smile, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Jazz looked skeptically at her brother before sighing. "Lancer spoke to me the other day, and-"

"Don't worry Jazz" Danny cut in, giving his sister a reassuring smile. "I've dealt with it. It's all good." Danny could have laughed at the distrusting look in her eyes, if his sister hadn't been so worried he might have.

"Really? Then why did Lancer talk to me during lunch yesterday?"

"He talked to me after-school." Danny shrugged, stretching his arms above his head. Before his sister could ask the question, he answered. "I told him that Sam, Tuck and I have just been helping Phantom with ghost hunting."

"And he just let it go?" Jazz crossed her arms, while Danny stood.

"Took a few conditions but he did." Danny yawned, before pushing his sister towards the door. "Now, I'm gonna have to get some work done."

"But Danny-"

Danny sighed closing the door in front of him, as much as he would love to keep talking to Jazz, he really had a game plan to come up with. Tomorrow he promised Sam and Tuck he would meet with them at Nasty Burger. Sighing, he plopped himself at his computer desk looking at the pile of homework that sat there. First, he has to get work done.

* * *

"Morning Mum." Danny smiled, placing a kiss on her cheek. Even with the flare of anger that spiked in him over what had happened outside of that hospital room, he could help but be glad to have her here. Maddie looked up startled, a soft smile fell on her lips.

"Someone's in a good mood." She mused, placing a kiss on top of the messy mop of black hair on her son's head. Danny beamed up at her, taking a seat at the table. "Eat up before you go off to meet with your friends." Maddie smiled back, placing a plate of eggs, toast, and bacon in front of him. Danny dug into the plate, his mind racing through the changes he's noticed since last time. Changes were good, things should be getting better. Danny flashed his mum a smile as she stepped out of the kitchen.

"Morning Everyone!" Before he could stop himself, Danny jumped up and wrapped his arms around his dad. Who froze for a moment, before returning the hug. "Hey Danny-boy" His arms tightened around him, he bit back the tears that stung at the back of his eyes. His dad was alive, in front of him. He was warm, and breathing. The raven haired teen bit the inside of his cheek to keep the tears at bay. Everything was okay.

"Hey..." Danny burrowed his head into his dad's neck, ignoring his words. He just wanted to enjoy this. After weeks of barely seeing him, this was almost overwhelming. "Danny, are you okay?" At this point he could taste blood seeping out from the inside of his cheek. His mind flashed back to the window-phone meeting at the prison... His dad was speaking to him the same exact way. All Danny could do was nod into his shoulder.

"Hey, Danny." Jack lightly pulled his son back, placing him fully onto his feet. The larger man tilted slightly to meet his son's eyes, a small smile staying on his face, while his eyes portrayed his worry. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing Dad." Danny finally spoke, his voice wavering slightly. His shook his head at the increased concern off his dad. "I-I just had a nightmare... I'm fine, I just-I love you." Immediately Jack's eyes softened, he pulled his son back into a hug.

"I love you too, Danny." Those words, coupled with the hug calmed Danny's feelings. He started to calm down, the tense escaped from him. Jack seemed to notice that too, he pulled back, moving his son back to his table. The childish nature returning completely to him. "Now... Time for fudge!" A laugh escaped Danny, watching his dad head to the fridge. He could still hear the soft growl from the ecto-dogs hidden in the drawers. Leave it to his dad to always make him feel better.

* * *

"Hey guys." Danny slid into the seat, Tucker slide his usual in front of him. Danny offered a smile to Tucker, one that shrunk when he turned to Sam. He needed to get over that. Still, even if he was the only one who remember everything, it didn't happen. Sam and him never fought. Everything was fine between the two of them, but that didn't stop the flare of anger and betrayal that sparked every time he saw her.

"Dude, you good?" Tucker asked. Danny blinked out of his thoughts, before nodding.

"Yea" Danny offered up a smile. "Just an extra credit paper Lancer gave me."

"I could always help." Sam offered up, before her phone vibrate from the table. A silence lulled between the trio before Sam groaned. "My parents have some stupid friends coming over, they want me home. Meet up at my place at ten?"

"Ah, I'm sorry." Danny shook his head, popping a fry into his mouth. "I promised Lancer I'll have my make up work in on Monday. Gonna spend tonight studying."

"Yea, maybe tomorrow night then." Danny tried not to feel guilty at the dash of sadness that crossed Sam's eyes. She gave her goodbyes, before walking off.

"Okay dude, what's up with you." Tucker turned, giving Danny a look. "Don't say nothing, something's going on between you and Sam and I can see it."

"Tucker, I-"

"Nope, truth." Tucker cut in, talking around a mouth full of his burger. He shifted to be seated across from the other teen. The two of the stared at each other, each daring the other to break first.

"Fine, you win." Danny shook his head with a laugh. He glanced around for a moment before leaning forward slightly. "So, let's say that maybe something happened and Clockwork had to reverse time and I'm the only one who remembers-"

"Dude! Why don't I remember! I want to remember."

"Trust me, you don't..." Danny winced, Tuck instantly sobered up, his face turning back to serious and concerned Tucker. "Anyways, let's just say in that time Sam wasn't the best... And Dash was a better friend then here."

"DASH!"

"SHHHH!" Danny waited until the stares from the people around them died down before continuing. "I know, I know... I'm not gonna go into details, but it might take sometime to get back on good terms with her."

"Dude I won't push." Tucker raised his hands in a surrender way, Danny gave a grateful smile. "But, Dash, really?"

"I know, I was shocked too." Danny agreed, taking a drink from his milkshake. "He's not as much of an asshole, honestly. I'm thinking of-"

"Seriously!" Tucker lowered his voice at the look the blue eyed teen gave him. "Okay, okay. But if he isn't cool, can you promise me you'll stuff him in a locker as Phantom?"

"Okay, deal." Danny grinned, shaking his friends hand. After that the conversation changed to lighter topics. The duo laugh and chat well until the sun starts to set.

* * *

Danny yawned, dropping his hoodie onto the floor. As much as he would have liked to keep the bruises on his wrists and upper arm hidden, it was just too hot for the hoodie, even his ghost core, or the night air. Danny closed his eyes, swinging softly on the swings as Sleeping With Sirens sounded through his earbuds. A smiled softly when no loud squeak cut through the music. Who would have guessed a low powered ecto-blast would have done the trick?

His hand ran through his unruly onyx hair, a soft sigh escaped him. It was getting late, but he was so use to meeting a certain blonde jock at this time that it felt weird to not come here. Even if he never did befriend Dash, he'll probably keep this is up. The night air breeze, the sound of animals and critters in the woodland area around the swings. It was calming, nice to unwind after everything.

"Fenturd?" The voice cut through the music, causing the smaller teen to jump. He turned to see a confused Dash taking a seat in the swing next to him. "I never saw you before?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and offered a small smile.

"I, uh, wanted to just clear my head." Danny answered after a pause, his eyes staying trained on the trees before him. When all he was met with was silence, he looked over and silently cursed himself. His arms. Dash was looking at his arms in an odd way, only making the raven haired teen more nervous. This would have been easier if things had stayed the same. "I, uh..."

"Did Lancer tell you about this easy some of us are doing?" Dash spoke up. Danny looked up eyebrows furrowing, he had expected a question or mocking, not this. "I kinda need some help with it." Dash gave Danny a slightly sheepish smirk. Danny offered a small smile, pushing down the excitement he felt. Without even trying he opened a window into being friends with Dash... This was good.

"Uh, yea." Danny wrapped his arms around himself, kicking the ground softly. "I'm doing that essay as well, I could help you if you want?" The conversation carried smoothly from there, the two spoke about different things. Everything was light, and laughter filtered between the two of them more often then not. That was before there was a lapse in their conversation.

"I get it." Dash spoke, breaking the silence. Danny looked up, it took him a moment to remember this conversation. "If you ever need to talk, I get what you're going through." Danny kept the confused look on his face, while Dash offered him a hesitant smile. "Doesn't mean we're friends though, got it." The edge of playfulness that filled that statement begged a differ, Danny gave a soft chuckle, returning the smile.

"Thanks." Danny smiled back, before turning his eyes back to the shifting shadows on the grassy floor of the park. The two lapsed in silence again, Danny could notice the feeling of Dash's stare even if he didn't remember this part. "What?"

"You aren't going to ask me how?" Dash questioned, Danny paused for a moment. He could remember how he worded the rest.

"I'm not going to make you tell me anything." Danny answered, glancing over at him. "You didn't start off saying it, so I figured you don't want to talk about it."

"Uh." Dash paused, his eyes searching Danny's face before he nodded. "You're cooler than what I expected, Fenton."

"You're nicer than I expected, Dash." Danny smiled, turning his eyes to the dark sky above him. The two teens fell back into the silence, it was a comfortable and relaxed. Danny swinging softly, while Dash sat relatively still. The two just enjoying the silence. Danny was happy, everything was going pretty good so far. All he had left was Chris. Then things would be good... Maybe even great.

"For middle school, my parents sent me to live with my aunt and uncle down south." Dash broke the silence, looking up at the moon. Danny looked over remembering the story, only this time Dash didn't know his. "They weren't going to be around for a long while and wanted me to have an adult around… But they had a different way of raising kids. I used to make excuses, I didn't see it as what it was, I kept thinking it was my fault until… I was sent to the hospital. My parents found out. I got cleared to go back home, and that was the summer before freshman year. Kwan and Paulina helped keep it all under wraps. I might not know what you're going through, but I can see the signs." Dash gave a look to his arms, and Danny tightened his arms around himself.

"My parents... they don't touch me. Heck, they don't even know about my bruises." Danny shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. He choose to continue when Dash gave him a confused look. "Um... You could say a family friend gives them to me."

"Never thought to tell your parents?" Dash asked, not catching the shiver that ran through him. Danny bit back his remarks. Telling his parents would do more damage than good.

"It won't do any good." Danny shook his head, rubbing slightly at a bruise on his wrist. "Trust me."

"If you ever need to talk..." Dash made eye contact with Danny, portraying how serious he was. He paused a moment, before adding."or some place to hide out, I'm here."

"Thank you." Danny smiled, meeting the eye contact. It was those words that seemed to signal the end of the conversation. The both of them shared a goodbye before Dash walked off, while Danny stayed seated in the swings. He let out a content sigh, tugging the earbuds back into place. One down, one more to go.

* * *

Danny took a bite from his ham and cheese sandwich, glancing at the masses of people beneath him. He missed school without the constant rumors surrounding him about him. He smirked at the memory of Paulina's and Kwan's faces when Dash had greeted him. He was also glad to see that Dash hadn't told anyone about anything. He yawned, pulling the sleeves of his hoodie down.

"I didn't know anyone else at lunch here." Danny jumped, mentally laughing at him. He had expected this much, but he still jumped from it. He looked over to be met by none other than Chris. "Mind if I sit?" Danny offered a smile.

"Sure why not." Danny nodded. "I'm Danny." He offered a small wave.

"Yea, I know. I've had to deal with your sis before. I'm Chris." Chris shook Danny's hand, offering him a smile. Danny chuckled at the comment about his sister. "Came up here to dodge the masses?" Danny chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"That obvious, uh?"

"Nah, I do the same." Chris smirked, popping a piece of brownie in his mouth. "Want some?" He offered Danny, who refused.

"I haven't seen you around before" Danny commented, remembering the conversation. It was kind of vague, but he was sure he could nail this. A laugh and a shake of the head came from the other male.

"Probably cause I skip pretty much all my classes." Chris tilted his head, brown eyes staying on the students below them. "I moved here, like a month or so ago, since then I've just been dodging most of my classes. Some teachers don't even know what I look like." The playful tint by the end of Chris's sentence caused Danny to laugh. This was by far the most relaxed repeat he's had so far.

"Can't lecture you there." Danny laughed, shaking his head. "I've skipped so many classes... or showed up really late to them." Chris laughed, pointing a finger at the teen.

"Brother of Jasmine Fenton not a golden student? I'm shocked." Chris chuckled, his features sobering after the short laugh. "Don't you just hate it when people compare you to family?" He asked, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

"Tell me about it." Danny agreed, going kinda on instinct now, rather than memory. "I have to a be genius, You?" Chris tossed the plastic wrap that held his brownie off the roof, chuckling when it hit a jock's head. Danny smirked when he realized it was Kwan.

"Doctors." Chris ran a hand through his hair. "My dad's a neurosurgeon. My mum was a pediatrician. Sister's a waitress, although she's going to school to become a social worker, so. Damn shame, I'm planning on being an artist" Chris laughed, taking a glance at the watch secured to his wrist. Danny bit back a sigh, he wanted to keep talking. At least he'll have other lunches to spend talking... hopefully. "Well, looks like it's time for-" The school bell cut his sentence short.

The pair traded goodbyes. Chris stayed on his perch on the school roof, while Danny made his way to the last period of the day. Unlike last time, he didn't feel any anxiety. He felt relaxed, calm, he actually felt like everything was going the way it should be going. It wasn't just a sense of hope, but it was something he just knew. He knew that things were going to look up, things weren't going to go down like they did last time. He smiled. Maybe leading this double life won't be so hard anymore.

* * *

 **AN: Hey everybody! This is basically the last chapter! !**

 **Yes, I kept Danny still having slight hard feeling for Maddie and Sam because let's be real. Of course he would.**

 **I'm debating about an epilogue. Where I just conclude how things are set, and how things would be for Danny.**

 **Let me know if that's something you all are interested in and let me know what you guys though of the story.**

 **honestly, it doesn't even feel like I wrote as much as I did. When I had to go back to scenes so that they would be pretty mirrored, I didn't ever actually notice that I had written 19 full chapters. Now I did, and I was surprised. It feels like I wrote a lot less than I actually did.**

 **Regardless, I'm really happy I wrote this story. I actually like it, and I hoped all of you guys got what you wanted/expected.**

 **Let me know all your thoughts in the reviews!**


	20. Chapter 20: Epilogue

**AN: Here's to me responding to a few reviews, before I feel like it.**

 **Pandemi: I really am happy you love the fic! I had real fun writing it. I ended up doing a chapter length epilogue, even though I hadn't planned it, because I wanted to hit the Vlad, Danny situation which took some time and effort. Honestly, writing this whole thing I got worried that the characters weren't in character, so it's always refreshing to hear about how they were pretty in-character. Ahh, the writing of Sam and Danny's fight, let me tell you, I struggled. I didn't want to pull her into a really shallow character, and I wanted to get her in touch with PP Sam so I had to skirt around with a few different Ideas to get the one I liked. I'm glad it worked out though ^ _ ^ Honestly, I had planned Chris to be a quick in out character, just to offer Danny a few words and be gone. But the more I wrote about him, the more I liked the idea of having him be apart of it, then Dash met him and things spiral. I actual ended up thinking up a whole backstory for Chris too, that how his sister popped in. Your review didn't seem short, I was shocked when I first got the email for it, I think it's the longest I've gotten. I just wanna thank you for taking the time to write out a review to tell me your thoughts! haha, your welcome on writing the story, but thank you for reading it!**

 **Feurrige: I hope this lives up to what you wanted as a wrap up between Sam, Danny, Maddie. Also the whole Fruitloop situation all together.**

 **Yaeken: I hope you enjoy the interaction between Fruitloop and Danny in here!**

 **LumpyApple: You're Welcome! And Thank You for Reading! I couldn't even abandoned it if I wanted too, this story rooted itself in my mind and I couldn't just drop it... even though I was tempted a few times. But I'm glad you like it!**

 **And now on to the story! This is the very last chapter, gaurentee, no new chapter will pop up after this or your money back. Let me know what you all thought about this all together, I really do love reading reviews, and believe it or not, even if I don't reply, I do read every single one I get. I hope nothing looks to rush to you all (I have mixed feeling about the Vlad and Danny scene, you'll see.)**

 _ **PS: I have a thing with Danny in over-sized clothing if no one has noticed, just felt like I should point that out... Okay, I'll go now. Enjoy.**_

 _ **PSS: I wrote a better Danny, Chris, Dash convo at the park but my computer glinched and deleted it. I'm surprised I was able to rewrite something a post it tonight.**_

 _ **PSSS: HAPPY HOLIDAYS MERRY CHRISTMAS HAVE A GOOD NIGHT**_

 _ **PSSSS: I tried posting this on Christmas night... but I kinda passed it,whoops.**_

 _ **PSSSSS: You should check out my other stories *eyebrow wiggle* Because why not?**_

 _ **PSSSSSS: My fave scenes from this story definetly has to be Danny with his dad, I have this thought of Jack actually being childish as a front and he has a really soft caring side he lets free when his kids need him or he gets worried. What was your fave scenes?**_

* * *

Danny yawned, stretching his arms above his head. It was Friday, and Danny couldn't be happier about the way things were going. His friendship with Dash and Chris grew, they started meeting up at the park nightly. His lost pretty much all of his anger towards his mother, sadly Sam's was still there. His mum was suffering a lose, he couldn't blame her for that, but Sam... Sam didn't really have an excuse. Regardless he can at least look at her without being mad.

Sam hadn't been very glad about befriending Dash, and the two often got into little arguments, but nonetheless his friends have never been closer. Tucker still was the only one he opened up to, he gave Tuck some details about the alternative future, even he agreed it was a mess.

He spent a load more time with his dad that was for sure. The spark of pain from his wrists reminded him that. Even with his healing, the hours he spent helping his dad tinker away at different things (that would one day be used against him) put a strain on his muscles. Not to mention ghosts attack, which was still a bit of a back and forth battle between him and Lancer.

Another yawn left the teen as he moved to get ready for the day. It was the last day before the weekend and he couldn't wait. He struck a deal with Valerie, Sam, and Tucker to take over ghost hunting for Saturday so he could spend the day teaching Dash and Chris.

That was another thing that seemed to spike up in the time he set things straight. Dash and Chris were quite interested in ghost hunting, and wouldn't let Danny tell them no in helping... Especially as they happened to see the raven haired teen in a less that functional state after a particular brutal fight between Skulker and him without Tucker.

Regardless, he only had a few loose ends he wanted to tie. He didn't want some unnecessary worries and dangers if he could help it.

* * *

"Daniel?" Danny gave an awkward wave, floating cross-legged in front of the older halfa. Vlad looked up at the snow white hair teen confusion clear on him.

"Before you say anything, I don't want to fight." Danny landed on his feet, letting the light wash over him and returning him to his usual look. Well his usual nowadays, which consisted of an over-sized sweatshirt and jeans. He decided a NASA one would be fitting. The teen's eyebrows furrowed at the flash of concern that ran through Vlad's indigo eyes. "I want to make a truce. I don't want us to keep fighting with each other. We are the only two of our kind after all."

"And what are you proposing?" Vlad asked, raising one brow. He leaned back and crossed his arms before him. "Last time I check, you were the one to deny me-"

"Me disowning my father, and you marrying my mum are out of the question." Danny growled, the memory of actually losing his dad flashing through him. He took a deep breath, ignoring the furrowed eyebrows of the older man. "Look, I decided I'm tired of constantly having to fight you... Can't we find some middle grounds... please?" Daniel added, his stern face melting to a pleading and exhausted teen. Vlad stared at him, eyes trained on the teen. His mind mulling over what the teen has said and what the teen looked like. Vlad wanted to ignore the jolt of guilt he felt over the teen's rugged look, but found it wasn't quite that simple.

The silence hung in the air, Vlad connecting the pieces. He couldn't believe how heedless he was to how everything was affecting the younger halfa. All of Danny's clothes hung off him, he had dark bags coloring under his bright blue eyes, and the sheer amount of exhaustion that showed through those eyes. Vlad thought for another moment before nodding. All this wasn't doing him much good either, over time the drive he had has began to distinguish. Even if his body didn't quite age as fast, he's mind did.

"Very well, little Badger." Vlad stood, walking towards the teen who seemed to relax a tad bit. "If you allow me to train you."

"I'm not going to-"

"Not in that way Daniel." Vlad shook his head. "A prospect of this truce would be that we do not attack each other, we will not reveal our secret, and we train together. I'd very much like if the only other halfa can defend himself." Danny paused, eyes searching Vlad. When he found nothing, a smile slid onto his face.

"Deal..." He paused another moment, before speaking up. "If you train me, you gotta train my friend in hand-to-hand combat. It's a package deal." Danny shrugged at the look he got.

"Very Well, your two friends may be included-"

"I got two more..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly with a small smile. "They don't know about the halfa secret though, so don't give me that look" Danny quickly added at the annoyed look the older halfa had given him. With a sigh, Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose before nodding.

"Very well, we'll start next week."

* * *

"Vlad Masters!?" Dash questioned, eyes wide at the thought. He couldn't believe he was going to be trained in ghost hunting by none other than the mayor. Chris on the other hand, looked beyond confused.

"Whose Vlad Master?" Chris questioned, clearly lost on who it was they were talking about. Danny couldn't say he was very surprised, Chris hadn't even know Lancer was the vice principal until well past the start of his time at Casper high.

"Masters." Dash corrected with the shake of his head, disbelief finding it's way onto his face. "He's the Mayor of Amity, you live here!"

"Oh! The creepy guy with the pony tail." Realization crossed the purple hair teen's features, before confusion took over. He kicked his legs softly swinging, before turning to Danny. "How do you know someone like that?"

"College buddies with my parents" Danny answered automatically, before stopping himself and re-answering the question. "We had a childish feud at one point, now he's helping everyone out with hunting."

"Ah... I guess I'm down for it." Chris nodded, turning to the blonde of the group. Only to be met with silence, and said jock staring off into space. His blue eyes looked well past the two, and were slightly glazed over, giving away his day dreamer state. "Dash?" His name seemed to snap him from his thoughts as he turned at focused on the others.

"Uh?" He questioned, confusion clear on him before the thought caught up with him and he remembered what they were talking about. "Yea, I'm all for training with Mayor Masters."

"That's good" Danny smiled. Almost like a switch had been flicked, the conversation switch to their normal conversation. The talk normal consisted of Dash giving a story about his own friends, Chris complaining about something his sister or dad did, or Danny giving another outrageous story about his family. Regardless of what was spoke it stayed light hearted, normal so.

Danny smiled and laughed along to another story from Chris about life before Amity. His smile didn't slip, he was happy. Content even. He felt extremely better than he had the first round about of things. His anger, exhaustion, fear, pain all was slowly diminishing. Life was taking a major upturn, and he was glad. Even with all the pain he had felt, this came out of it. A better life, one where he was thriving rather than just surviving.

Now he knew for a fact, Everything is Okay.


End file.
